Twilight's descent
by ChaosAngel767
Summary: Sora has just returned from his fight with Xemnas but he feels that he's living in his own memory. When he finds two mysterious keyblades who mention a Keyblade War he seeks guidance but is thrust into even more ignorance than before. Yeah,sucky summary
1. Moon, why art thou deceitful?

**The sequel to Dawn will always rise. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix or anything else, except my storyline and the characters I created.**

**Twilight's descent**

**Just to inform you I've had this little thing sitting on my desktop since mid-March but I just got so preoccupied with continuing where I left off I kinda sorta forgot. For almost a month, I've been delaying the inevitable: taking two or three hours to just sift through 165 582 words and divide the 349 pages into 23 chapters. A pain I choose to endure after midnight, when I have the most patience. So I'm giving up precious (sorta, well not really I would have been up anyway) time to refine this. I am not complaining and I don't want sympathy but next time you read a fanfic or even a book take a moment and appreciate the time the author gave up to ensure you can read their work.**

**Now that my little rant is over, which you can just as well skip if you want enjoy my third fanfic.**

**Fun fact: if you notice that this fanfic is longer than the previous two you're not wrong. There will always be Light was just over 69 000 words and Dawn will always rise is just over 103 000 words. And I'm planning to make the fourth instalment twice as long, if just to make it easier for me.**

**Chapter one: Moon, thou art deceitful.**

**A fitting name for this chapter, don't you think? Especially after what's happened and what I've done later on.**

Sora had always been a prodigy at adapting, but what he did after he awoke from a fitful sleep after returning to the Islands was almost beyond human...almost. He had woken from his dream because his mother had shaken him, announcing it was time for him to get up. "C'mon Sora. You haven't left the house for the last two days. You need to get some fresh air." Sora moaned and rolled over, feeling his sore and stiff muscles stretch. "What time is it?"

Sora's mom chuckled and stripped Sora's bed of all covers and blankets. "Noon." Sora grew still and turned, eyeing her with disbelief. "Noon? How many days have I been back?" Sora's mom chuckled again. "Like I said when I woke you up, two."

Sora did the mental math, which was difficult with his splitting headache and sleep addled brain. 'Two days. Isn't this the day - shows up?' Sora felt a blank in those thought and he tried again. 'Didn't – show up – days after we got back?' Sora's thoughts grew more and more blank before he completely forgot what he had been thinking. 'Hey, -, Tho..., Van..., Roxas, 'didn't – show up today? Sora heard his thoughts echo through empty space, only touching the thoughts of Roxas, who himself was grumpy with sleep deprivation. 'What? Who? Leave me alone.' Sora prodded Roxas again but got nothing, only a bigger gap in his memory. Before he could question himself again his thoughts went completely blank, his memory from the last few minutes fading away.

Sora got out of the shower and got dressed, and found that when he put on the clothes he'd worn on his previous adventure had changed. Pants reaching his heels and his jacket flaring down to his knees. His shoes had changed as well, being much smaller, tight against his foot instead of blossoming out like a clown's. His gloves stayed the same but his belt widened, with multiple small belts coming from the buckle, wrapping around his waist. When he was done he went into the kitchen and ate his breakfast, left and told his mother he's going out. "I'll be on the Island if you want me." Before Sora reached the door his mother called him, he walked back to the kitchen and saw a document in her hand. "What's that?" Sora reached out to take the paper but his mother folded it in half and stuffed it in her pocket. "Oh nothing." Sora nodded and walked back towards the outside world but his mother called him again. "What do you think about...?" Sora nodded and waited, when his mother didn't continue he sat down and fingered the table. "About..." Sora drew out the word and sat in silence.

Sora sat nearly for a minute before his mother threw the document on the table, still folded. He opened it and read:

As of the 11th of September Julian High will again commence with teaching after the summer holidays. We advise all parents to prepare in advance and inform their children of the new school year...

Sora read the entirety of the document before looking up from the table, a faint smile on his otherwise expressionless face. "School?" He looked at his mother in confusion and she sighed. "You've been away for almost three years and you don't have the education you need to live by, at least not in writing. So yes, I would like you to go back." Sora looked down at the document in front of him and the date again stood out. 'Two days left...That's cruel, having me go to school now. So soon after I got back.' Sora shrugged and fingered the document in front of him. "If you want me to I'll go."

Sora's mom looked at her son in shock. She had expected protest, outrage even, but Sora looked as if he was fine with it, as if it didn't bother him in the slightest. "Did you do anything when you were...away?"

Sora looked up t his mother and chuckled. "Yeah, Donald taught me everything I needed to know about anything. And he wasn't satisfied unless I aced all my tests, even the ones he couldn't do. He said that I couldn't fight if I couldn't think efficiently, so I learned what I could and picked up the rest as I went along." His mother looked at him as if she didn't believe him but didn't say anything, as if she didn't want to hurt his feelings. "Look, I'm pretty much set for any university, even Ivy League. I can do anything anyone twice my age can, even if it looks like I can't."

By the time Sora's mom was convinced he wouldn't fail his first semester in school by epic proportions he did what he had wanted to do before his mother dropped the school bomb on him. He paddled out to the Play Island and saw both Riku and Kairi's boat already fixed to the dock. 'What are they doing here?' Sora fixed his boat to the dock and walked across the sand, to the tiny island next to the main island. He saw Riku and Kairi already sitting there, looking out across the water, talking. He walked up to them and sat down next to Kairi, looking out to sea as well.

After about a minute of sitting and silence Riku turned to Sora. "My mother wants me to go to school. Said I needed a proper education, on paper anyway." Riku looked at Sora and watched him grin, looking across the water as he did. "My mom did too. I think they talked when I was still asleep. What school's papers did she give you? Julian High?" When Sora heard the sharp intake of breath as a response he grinned even wider. "Thought so. That's what my mom did with me. And you Kairi? What did the mayor want his precious step-daughter to do? Home schooling?"

Kairi looked at the clear blue water of her adopted home world and was reminded of another ocean, one sailed by pirates. "My 'father' said I'm going to Julian High. Said it was appropriate for me to go to the school he did. And how'd you know I'm not his daughter?"

Sora shrugged and lay back against the warm stone, feeling the sun kiss his skin. "Leon told me. And Aerith said Ansem the Wise was the Princess of Heart's father's closest friend. I put two and two together; I mean how many of the Princesses could come from Radiant Garden? Just you and maybe Alice, but I doubt it was Alice, she's way too young. And I asked Tron where you came from, he said the probability of you coming from Radiant Garden was high. Not certain but high." Sora opened his eyes and saw Kairi looking down at him, trust in her azure eyes. Sora looked into Kairi's eyes and suddenly saw himself kissing her, but not as he was. His eyes were silver and his hair black, a certain power and Darkness shining in his eyes. Before he could blink the thought was gone, leaving him confused and worried about his own sanity. He looked into Kairi's eyes and saw a struggle take place within them, what kind of struggle he didn't know but he saw it nonetheless.

Kairi looked into Sora's eyes and a memory forced its way into her mind, showing a black-haired Sora kissing her with passion. She looked at herself and saw pride and possessiveness shine in her eyes, mingled with pleasure and pain. Before she knew it the memory faded away beyond her grasp, leaving her wondering if what she saw was a memory or something her imagination made up to tempt her.

Before Sora knew what he was doing he drew himself upright and pulled Kairi towards him, her lips less than an inch from him. "What am I doing?" He looked into Kairi's eyes and saw joy and excitement writhe within them, her lips slightly parted. "Don't stop. Do it...Do what I waited for years to happen." When she whispered those words Sora closed the distance between them, both of their many dreams finally coming true.

When Sora and Kairi finally kissed for the first time Riku smiled slightly, stood up and walked around the Island, giving them their space. 'About time. And now Wakka owes me 100 Munny. It's good to have that bet pay off. So good.' Riku looked back towards the tiny island and smiled when he saw Sora and Kairi still kissing. When he returned an hour later he saw then in each other's arms...still kissing. 'This is gonna take a while.' Riku sighed and walked towards the dock, with a jolly shout of "See you guys at school!" towards the couple before getting in his boat and paddling back to the mainland.

When Sora and Kairi were done 'enjoying' their reunion as Kairi called it they went back to the mainland as the sun started to set. As per se they went to their respectful houses and told their parents the good news. Sora's mother was crying with joy while Kairi's stepfather was seeing red.

Kairi looked at John, her stepfather, and sighed in exasperation. "Dad, I don't see why you're so upset. It's not like it's something you haven't thought about. I mean, how many times have you asked me whether Sora was being 'gentlemanly' as you call it? And besides, I trust him."

John looked at his daughter, for he considered Kairi his daughter, and chewed on words he'd rather not say. When he stared at her in muted rage for over a minute without her backing down he sat down behind his desk and picked up his phone, the official phone only the mayor was supposed to use. "Helena, cancel the rest of my appointments. I'll be out for the rest of the day. And while you're at it call my driver, I'm going to see someone. That is all." Before Helena could answer John slammed the phone down, again staring at his daughter with his beady black eyes. "Let's go pay young Sora a visit shall we?"

Kairi looked out of the tinted windows of the car at the scenery, the white sand and green grass meeting the ever-blue sky. She knew she was less than a block from Sora's house, she didn't even need the GPS attached to the seat in front of her. "And if he's not there?" Kairi had asked the same question again and again but John refused to answer her, instead looking out the window as the buildings and nature passed by. He'd never had a love of nature, but Kairi did so he had the greenhouse made outside her window. As the years passed he'd payed to have the greenhouse enlarged, having more and more exotic plants delivered. And gradually as the years passed she had convinced him to walk amongst the many great trees with her, breathing in the humid sweet air. And that became their hobby, exploring the forest and learning the way of the trees: learning their names, how much they grew and what each individual tree needed to survive.

John looked at the young woman his daughter had become and remembered anew what she looked like when she first arrived, not even reaching his waist. Her hair had been short then, four inches at most. Her eyes had been huge back then, with enough emotion in their deep depths to fill the ocean. He remembered when she had first gone to school, how terrified she had been and how excited she was when she got back. 'So long...So much and I can't even call her my real daughter. And even if I could no one would believe me, she looks too different, so much so that we can't even be related.'

When John and Kairi reached Sora's house their family driver opened the door for them and knocked on the front door, only leaving when the door opened. Kairi watched in fear as Sora opened the door, eyes wide when he beheld the mayor. "Hello mayor. Good to see you. Funny question, why did you come? Cause you don't usually make house trips."

Kairi flinched when John raised his hand in a fist and slugged Sora, or at least he tried too. "Whoops, you missed there. Wanna try again?" Sora had turned his head to the side and watched as John's fist went through the spot his cheek had been a second before. John punched again and Sora turned his head aside again. "C'mon Mr. Mayor, you can do better than that."

Sora regarded the mayor with bored eyes, ever so slightly smiling at Kairi as he did. She looked worried, almost like she thought Sora will get hurt. "C'mon Kairi. Did you think someone like him would be able of hitting me? That's insulting. I'm hurt, I'm honestly hurt." Sora clutched at his heart and swooned in mock pain, smiling all the while. John however wasn't amused, he threw a vicious left hook and finally connected, fist sinking into the soft flesh of Sora's cheek. Sora looked at the mayor and saw him smile as if in accomplishment, but Sora wasn't gonna live it down.

Sora sighed and drew back his arm slightly, just enough to break a few bones. He brought his hand forward and slugged the mayor in his gut, looking at Kairi as he did. John coughed violently and fell to his knees, clutching his gut in pain as he gasped for breath. Sora looked down at John and grabbed him, his shirt's buttons popping. "Now John, why did you try to hurt me? Was it because of that apple I 'borrowed' and never brought back? Or the fact that Kairi and I are together? Never mind. I think I know. You're mad that I didn't tell you myself."

Kairi looked in some amusement as John hung from Sora's arm like a two year old, squirming to get free. 'Pathetic. I thought John would at least put up more of a fight.' Kairi walked forward and placed her hand on Sora's arm, the arm John was grabbing at for dear life. "Sora...Let him go. I think I'm ready to accept the fact that things will never be the same between John and me. I'm not his daughter, just a substitute he can get rid of." Kairi walked into Sora's house and closed the door behind her, not even telling John goodbye. 'He's had it coming. Selfish bastard. Wanting to keep me to himself.' When Kairi reached the sitting room she slid her razor thin phone from her pocket and dialled a number John had given her if she needed help he couldn't give.

The phone rang twice before the other end picked up, waiting for her to speak in silence. "This is Kairi. Send the package to my location." And she hung up; knowing all she would need would arrive within ten minutes.

Sora and Kairi sat in the sitting room, waiting, waiting for what Sora didn't know but when the doorbell rang Kairi sprang up and opened the front door, picked up the unmarked envelope inside and walked back inside. "It's here." Kairi opened the package and threw the contents over the table. "If there's one thing John was good for besides being a politician its preparing for the worst." Kairi picked up the black phone that had fallen from the bag and flipped it open, read the message and closed it again. "Give me your phone." Sora handed her his shiny silver phone and she put in the number she'd read. "My new number. Delete the old one would you." Sora fingered an official looking paper and she took it from him, looked at it and tore it up. She looked at most of the other papers and tore most of them, throwing them away when she was done.

By the time Kairi was done going through the small pile of things the envelope contained only three objects remained, a phone, a credit card and a key. "The phones for a new number, the credit cards to use John's money and the key's to one of his unofficial houses. I don't need the rest so I'll just get rid of it."

By the time Sora's mother came back from wherever she was Sora and Kairi had gone to John's house to get her clothes, get a few of the things she wanted to keep and still had enough time to take a nap. When Sora's mom did finally show up she found Sora and Kairi sitting on the same couch with Kairi's bag full of clothes beside her. Sora's mom pursed her lips and sat down, looking at her son and his lover in concentration. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you. Honestly I don't. The mayor called me and said you tried to kill him. That's a problem, I can't help if you try to kill someone Sora. You know that."

Sora looked at his mother and then towards his new lover. "Did I try to kill John Kairi? Or did he throw the first punch?" Kairi pursed her lips and shook her head. "He tried to hurt you, but he missed. You only touched him after that left hook. So from what I know of law you acted in self-defence, even if he is the mayor. There's no case, you have a witness and he doesn't." Sora smiled in achievement and settled deeper into the couch.

Later that day, late at night in fact, Sora and Kairi sat on the roof, looking at the stars. On the roof they sat, wondering how fate could have been so strange and fickle, pushing Kairi away from John towards Sora, a life for a life, parent for a lover. "Sora..."

Sora looked at Kairi and shook his head, already certain about what Kairi wanted to say. "No, you can't have done anything to stop John from acting as he did. Just as Amaterasu was destined to hide in that cave, just as Susanoo was destined to be punished for his act. Fate finds those who try to change it, fate inevitably happens." Sora looked at his love and saw her look up at the moon, staring at it as if it could answer all her questions.

"Moon moon

why art thou bright

Why art thou clear and luminous,

art thou deceitful

why art thou dark and twisted

do thou lie to us all"

Kairi's voice was clear and filled with sorrow, echoing the sad tale of the poem. Of two lovers who sought each other out by the light of the moon, only to find that an eclipse once barred their way. But on they went, their love so great that it led them to each other, on the opposite side of a deep and jagged ravine. The one lover had attempted to jump the distance but had merely brushed his lovers fingertips when he fell, eyes filled with love. His lover watched as he fell, eyes fixed to his with a love so strong death itself couldn't separate them. And through his heart pounding with love was driven a blade of disappointment, a jagged stone ending his life.

The man's lover wandered the world, always finding her way to the ravine that had ended her lovers life, sadness and demented determination driving her to find him once more. Weeks and months passed, until the glow of a full moon beckoned her back to the ravine, to once again seek her lover. Moonstruck she had slipped and fallen, the same blade of disappointment found her heart, blood bathing the ground anew.

As her eyes faded in death she saw a ghastly sight, the moon shining red, as if her lifeblood stained its pure white surface. "And so life remembers us, when the moon shines red and shows its true side, a side tainted with shadow and death."

Kairi closed her eyes and turned her face from the moon, white light touching her face. Sora looked at her and touched her cheek, his other hand raised as if to cup something falling from the moon. "And yet, the poem ends on a positive note."

"Moon moon

Thou fill us with purity and hope

Hope for love

Love untainted, love pure and simple

Moon moon

Thou art bright and pure

Showing honesty

Moon moon

Thou lover awaits"

Sora's voice was still and had no emotion, no passion for what he spoke. He spoke the poem as if it was a simple phrase, as if you said it for the purpose of saying it. But his eyes roiled with passion and regret, almost as if he was the first lover, regretting causing his love such sadness. "Kairi, death is peaceful, that's true but life isn't. Life is challenging, as if it's a game made to fill you with hope only to rip it away when you're an inch from true happiness, again thrust into emptiness and depression, knowing you'll try anything to keep the emptiness away. Have hope, hope is what keeps you alive."

Kairi looked at Sora and saw experience flash in his eyes, as if the words he had spoken had come from some part of him still in the emptiness, still waiting for the depression to fade away, happiness taking its place. She looked into Sora's eyes and opened her mouth, mixed emotions roiling in her heart. "Sora...I...I'm sorry." Instead of the endless, boundless words she had intended to say only those few words came from her mouth. Sora's eyes became half-lidded and Kairi saw his forehead crunch up, making him look sad.

Sora looked at Kairi and felt her words ring inside him, filling him to the brim with her sincerity. Instead of answering Sora pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. And so they hugged, Sora's arms wrapped around her narrow waist and her nails digging into his back, both ways of embrace comforting them.

When Sora and Kairi grew chilled with the silence around them they went into Sora's room and got into bed, the figure below the window stepping from the shadows. Riku looked up at Sora's window and exhaled, his heart stilling as he did. 'Life is becoming difficult. Right Ansem?' Riku felt Ansem stir within him and he took that as a yes. When dawn wasn't far off Riku stepped from Sora's yard and allowed himself to become one with the shadows, his footsteps muffled and his body hidden from everyone. As he felt his body ripple with the power he used Riku closed his eyes and allowed Darkness to move him, feeling him body move at incredible speed. When Riku felt his Darkness recede back into his heart he opened his eyes and fell onto his bed, falling asleep as he did.

The two days Sora and Kairi spent together before school re-opened they spent together, Riku shadowing their movements, enjoying their time together. Each night they sat on the roof and watched the stars, Sora telling Kairi the worlds the stars represented. The day before school started Sora and Kairi went shopping for their school supplies and clothing, Riku absent as he had done it the day his mother had shoved the papers into his face. Within an hour they had gotten everything except clothes and their books, which the school would provide for them, at a hefty fee of course. As they browsed Sora asked Kairi what had changed the last few years. She responded to almost every question as follows: "Nothing has changed except we got older. The teachers still give us homework and breaks are still too short."

When Sora and Kairi reached the clothing store Sora as usual was clueless about his sizes, because as he explained "I've grown okay." When Sora finally got his sizes he bought enough clothes to keep him for as he himself said "Until I've outgrown them or they fall apart." As they walked home four wannabe crooks cornered them in an alley and demanded all their cash and valuables.

When Sora had refused one had drawn a knife and pointed it at him. "Kid, you don't really have a choice. Cause my buddies here need cash, and looks like yer stupid enough to walk through this here alley with all yer new goodies." When the other three drew knives as well Sora looked at Kairi and fear flash across his face. But she'd just smiled and nodded subtly, telling him to do what he wanted. Sora grinned and flexed his right hand, power flowing into him for the first time in days. He summoned his keyblade and Fenrir appeared, sparks flashing high into the air as he did. Sora scowled and turned Fenrir slightly, a red glow wrapping around the blade. "Now, Fenrir here is a bloodthirsty sucker. Meaning you have two choices. One, run away and live or fight and die a horrible death. The offer stands for five seconds." The four wannabe crooks stood where they were, looks of shock/confusion on their faces Sora sighed. "Did you hear me? I said to run away you stupid idiots." When they still didn't do anything Sora lost his patience and drove his knee into one of the thieves gut, making him fall to his knees clutching his stomach. The other three blinked and snarled, dove forward and pointed their daggers at Sora. Sora just swatted them away and knocked them out, throwing them into a neat little pile.

Sora and Kairi walked into Sora's house and dumped their new things on the kitchen counter, knowing they had to go through everything and pack their new school bags. By the time they were done the sun had set, their new clothes hung up to dry with dinner on the table. They ate in silence and went up to bed with weak excuses, really just wanting to sulk in silence staring up at the moon.

Sora looked up at the moon and thought back on when he had last been in school, way way back when he and Kairi had almost been the same height. 'Times have changed. But from what Kairi says a few things have stayed the same. School still sucks and homework takes way too much time to do. Reminds me of when I paid Riku to give me his homework, even though the teachers knew I cheated off him in tests. Good times.'

Kairi looked at Sora and heard him sigh, but unlike her own sigh of regret his sigh contained annoyance. "What's wrong? Not wanting to go to school? You and almost every other kid younger than twenty." Sora sighed again and chuckled without humour. "If only it were that simple. I've killed Kairi, and now my mother expects me to go to school. It's insane, expecting a trained killer to learn about the chemical compound needed to make most any explosive stable. How life begins and ends, how my body converts food into glucose for energy, how my liver takes excess glucose from my blood and stores it. What will I use it for? Where in my life of death and destruction will I ever need to know what's the difference between a phagocyte and a lymphocyte? It's insulting, never mind pointless. But I'll go to school, I'll block out how I could kill the idiot that tries messing with you, I'll try to act like I'm the same as every other kid my age. I'll act like every other kid my age worrying about what everyone thinks of me, who's popular and who's not. I'll ignore the insults and jokes aimed at me, I'll ignore the gym coach mocking me for not being able to do more than thirty push-ups and pull-ups. It's not like I can forget what I've done the last couple of years." Sora shrugged his shoulder and looked at Kairi with such sarcasm it shocked her, making her look at Sora in a new light, seeing his old personality tainted by fighting and causing death, death after death marring his soul.

Kairi looked at Sora and smiled gently, a memory surging up inside her. "Remember when you got back. That joy of being home, finally able to relax and enjoy yourself. Remember your smile, remember Riku's hug with Mickey? It was hilarious. Seeing the big baddie he made himself out to be laughing and swinging that mouse around like a little boy. A little boy still believing in the Tooth Fairy, still afraid of the monsters under his bed. And that's how I'll remember him, not scarred and tainted by Darkness but as the little boy he was for those few minutes, minutes so precious we'll never get them back."

Sora caressed Kairi's cheek and leaned into her, lips brushing her cheek for a second before moving away again. "And I'll remember you as you were when I found you, convincing me that Ansem was Riku, the Riku I remembered. The only thought running through my mind then was: 'Save her. Save her and get back.' And I did, we're back. And your here with me, safe and sound."

Sora kissed her cheek again before moving his lips down, down...down. His lips brushed over her soft jaw and down her smooth neck, finally stopping at the base of her neck. He bit her neck lightly and felt her shiver, feeling her pulse jump as she did. He passed his lips over her neck and up, again moving over her chin and stopped when he reached the corner of her mouth, lips touching hers only slightly. He opened his mouth and licked her full lower lip, tasting her sweet skin. He finally gave into temptation and locked his lips with hers, feeling her lips move softly against his, her touch gentle...as gentle as if he was a newborn deer, skittish to the touch, as if she feared he would bolt if she did something wrong.

Sora and Kairi kissed in silence until they were both breathless, lips brushing together in peaceful harmony, their hearts pounding and their breathing ragged. They looked into each other's eyes and Sora saw the beginnings of desire in her eyes, just barely touching her passion and trust for him. He leaned forward again and kissed her forehead before moving away, looking at her with a lopsided smile. "Can't have everything you want. Just like I can't have everything I want. C'mon let's get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrows gonna be a long day."

Sora and Kairi walked together down the road, bags slung over their shoulders as they talked. As they walked Riku joined them, not even smiling as Kairi hugged him. When Julian High came into view Riku's mood darkened even more, almost freezing the air with his coldness. Sora and Kairi looked at him cautiously and bid him farewell, running ahead as they did. When they reached the wrought iron gates Sora ran into an old 'friend', Lucas. Lucas nearly gagged when he saw Sora with Kairi, eyeing him in silence as they passed him, their eyes locked and Sora looked into the cold eyes of someone who hated him. Hated him for no reason other than just hating him. As they passed Lucas Sora felt him slip away, most likely to call his other buddies. "Things haven't changed. Lucas still hates me and I still don't care. But I will break his arm again if he touches you." Sora thought back, fond memories flooding his mind.

_Sora grabbed the arm Lucas swung at him and pulled, pulling the black-eyed youth towards him. "What did you say you filthy brat?" Sora tugged viciously on Lucas's arm and heard him cry out in pain, clenching his teeth as he did. "I said she liked what I did. She screamed and screamed but I didn't stop, she liked it too much." Lucas laughed with dark humour and Sora did something he'd never done before. He twisted and pulled the arm he held in a death grip and felt something tear, knowing it was the muscle that held Lucas's arm attached to his shoulder. Lucas screamed and Sora drove his knee into his gut, effectively cutting off the scream. The other kids around Sora watched in fear as he let Lucas go, his useless arm hanging limp. Sora raised his fist for a final blow but someone grabbed his hand, he snarled and turned around, seeing it was Riku with Kairi behind him. "Enough. Let him go Sora. You've done enough."_

Sora and Kairi turned a corner and walked into one of Sora's old friends, Tidus. "Sora! Good to see you again man. It's been a while, hasn't it? Two? Three years?" Sora shrugged and passed Tidus, slapping his shoulder as they passed. Sora looked at the school and felt dislike creep into his heart, as if his heart knew he didn't belong there. When Sora walked around the last corner they walked smack dab in to an open square, blinding him with the sudden sunlight that flooded his eyes.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Screw it, I'm gonna stop saying the next chapter title, it get's annoying after a while, especially since you can just as well click on the 'Next chapter' right beside this.**

**So I apologise if you somehow enjoy me telling you at the end of each chapter what the next chapter will be. Not that I'm trying to be rude but it gets tedious if I'm going through a single Word Document just under 350 pages long.**

**Review, and I apologise for above message if you're insulted.**


	2. School days

**Next chapter: School days.**

Sora looked around the room and sighed, his head slipping through his hand as he did. 'Same as I remember it. Still boring, still a lot of homework.' Sora was sitting in his fourth class, Literature. At the moment the teacher was discussing a play he'd read before but barely remembered, LOVELESS. '_Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess. We seek it thus, and take to the sky. Ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest..._' Sora flinched when he heard his name being called and felt something form in his hand but he willed the phantom keyblade away, not willing to expose his secret in front of an entire class. He heard his name called again and he actually looked up, moving his eyes over everyone in a lame attempt to find out who called him.

"Sora!" Sora swung his eyes around and looked into the eyes of his teacher, Priscilla or Miss. P. "Yeah?" Priscilla sighed and repeated the question. "What was the gift the goddess gave?" Sora himself had wondered about this same question many times but he had never found an answer that pleased him. "Well Priscilla..." When a faint vein began pulsing in Priscilla's forehead Sora stopped, not knowing what he'd done wrong. "Sora, I know your new and all but please call me either Miss. P or my full surname." Sora nodded and started again. "Well Pris...Miss. P, to answer your question is like answering the question: Why was the world created with free will? No one knows the answer, the play was never finished so the gift of the goddess was never revealed. But there are many great speculations: peace, hope, the end of war, immortality, power...There is no definite answer, the question is too vague to answer fully."

Sora looked up at Priscilla, uhh Miss P and his answer was greeted with silence. He looked around and saw almost all the students staring at him, including Kairi. In fact only two people didn't look at Sora, Riku and a guy Sora didn't know. "What? Did I say something wrong?" Sora looked at the kids around him and looked back at Riku, who had finally looked up from the piece of paper he was writing on towards Sora. "Riku, what did I say?" Sora saw Riku shrug and look away. "I donno, ask them. But my guess is that their shocked by your answer. Not having an answer at all, that's something no one really does." Sora nodded his head and sat in silence, when the bell rang everyone started and gathered their things, except Miss. P, who was still staring at Sora in a mystified way.

Sora, Riku and Kairi walked to their next class and found out that they had the same class together again: gym. Kairi groaned and rubbed her right shoulder as if knowing it would hurt later. "I hate gym. The girl's always get the easy stuff while the guys get the things that are actually fun." Sora rolled his shoulders in preparation and mentally lowered his strength, not wanting anyone to know he could jump nearly a two story building in a single leap. "Let's get this over with. I'm bored already."

Less than ten minutes later Sora stood in a line with the other guys and looked at the typical gym coach. Sunburned, muscled beyond belief with a wrinkled face typical of drill sergeants. While Muscly, as Sora dubbed him, explained what they would be doing today Sora looked to his left at Kairi who stood staring at him from her side of the field. He grinned and stuck his tongue out, making her laugh. "Ten-shun!" Sora turned his eyes front and centre and saw Muscly in front of him, tendons in his neck straining as he scolded Sora. Sora endured the torment and passed the four or so minutes Muscly yelled at him by imagining knocking his teeth out with a baseball bat he'd seen earlier. "If only I could..." Sora whispered those forbidden words the same time Muscly yelled at him too, in his own words "Do the course ten times without stopping! If you so much as breath wrong you'll get detention! Got that!" And for his forbidden crime Muscly told him to do the course twenty times. Sora shrugged and rolled his sleeved up, flexing his arms as he did.

Sora took a deep breath and ran forward, using barely half the speed he could do. He grabbed the bar in front of him and hauled himself over without any effort at all. He ducked under the next and again hopped over the next, higher bar. And so he continued, first bar over next under, going over and under fourteen bars. His next task was to haul himself up a rope without using his feet. Sora grabbed the rope between his hands and looked up, up and towards the end of the rope, thirty feet up. He shimmied up, left hand moving over his right and vice versa, in less than twenty seconds he was sliding down, going so fast it looked like he actually floated up. When Sora touched the ground he turned his glare on Muscly, having not broken a sweat as he did the first two obstacles. He ran to the next and grabbed the bar above him, pulling himself up before lowering himself. He did forty pull-ups followed by twenty sit-ups. He got to his feet and went to the first obstacle again, literally jumping over the bars he had to get over and sliding under the other, lower bars.

In less than half an hour Sora had finished the course from hell, sweat dripping into his eyes and breathing ragged. He walked over to Muscly and waited for the stupid man to notice him. When it became apparent Muscly was ignoring him he tapped him on the shoulder and waited. Without turning around Muscly snorted. "You're not done are you? Can't do a little work without complaining?" Sora snorted and walked out in front of Muscly. "I'm done. I've done it twenty times. And if you don't believe me ask her." Sora pointed with his chin towards the other gym teacher, who was the opposite of Muscly. Slim, wearing a dress, make-up the female gym teacher was attractive and nice, barely giving the girls any work. She had watched Sora do the hard labour with her mouth practically flopped open, eyes wide. "Now if you want me I'll be chilling out on the bleachers, with the girls." Muscly spluttered and moaned but Sora didn't stop, only stopping when he sat down on the bleachers. "Baka."

Sora leaned back against the bleachers and watched Kairi work, or what the female gym teacher, Melony, called work. As she 'worked' she talked to the other girls, laughing and smiling a lot, shooting Sora a look every now and then, letting him know she was talking about him. 'I wonder what she's talking about?' Sora looked back at Melony and saw her smile at him, calling him over with a wave of one of her well groomed hands. He stood up and jogged over, smiling as he did. "So your Sora. I can see why Kairi likes you. Nice job out there. But don't let Muscles over there put you down. If you do what he says he's gonna give you work." Sora smiled and chuckled once. "I dubbed him Muscly." Melony smiled in return and looked back at Muscly. "Yeah, it suits his petite stature. Muscly, I like it. Now how would you like to do something for me..."

Sora walked over towards the girls and called them over. "Can you all come over here please?" The girls stopped what they were doing and walked over, cautious looks on their faces. "Melony has had a talked with Muscly over there and we've come to an agreement. If you beat us in the obstacle course we do all the work while you chill. But if we win we get to chill." Sora grinned and called them closer. When they were whispering distance away Sora cupped his hand around his mouth and grinned even wider. "Melony said if we win it'd be unfair if you worked so she said you could chill as a bonus for giving your all." Sora stepped back and resumed his normal voice tone. "Alright, that's the rules. Your best against our best. Which would be..."

Kairi grinned and called the girls over to have a little group huddle. "Let me do it. I'll lose, it'll be close but I'll still lose. Besides I know Sora, he won't hold back." The girls nodded and Kairi stepped away, smiling widely as she did. "I guess it's little ol' me your going against Sora. I hope you don't beat me too bad." Kairi fluttered her eyelashes and talked with a very, very bad southern drawl. Sora chuckled dryly and nodded, smoothing his face as he turned back towards Muscly. "All right Kairi. I win and you get anything you want...You win, you still get anything you want from me. Fair ehh?"

Before the race started Sora and Kairi stood together, not touching but connected all the same. Muscly walked up to them and lifted up his enormous arm above his head and boomed with his deep grating roar of a voice. "Alright. Girls vs. Boys. Begin...Now!" Muscly lowered his arm and watched Sora and Kairi do...nothing. "C'mon now! Go!"

Sora and Kairi looked at each other and shrugged, hands reaching out to touch. "No hard feelings if I win Kairi?" She grinned and dipped her head up, her lips pursed. "Alright. Love you too." Sora brought his lips to bare and kissed Kairi, less than a second but a solid kiss. They got ready and grinned. "Go!" Sora shot forward with Kairi less than an inch behind him and jumped over the first bar, clearing it with a foot to spare. Kairi herself got over gracefully, her body almost horizontally to the ground as she spun in the air, body spinning like a top, over the bar. They both swung their bodies under the second bar and again cleared the higher bar.

They reached the rope at the same time and Sora held his arm out to his love, not allowing himself to not help her. She grabbed his arm and he swung around, throwing her halfway up the rope before launching himself up the rope, reaching the top a second behind her. She let go of the rope and fell, her eyes closed as she plunged toward the ground, the people below gasping at her actions. Sora himself let go of the rope and shot down, overtaking his love easily with his added weight. He struck the ground and reached up, breaking Kairi's fall before he raced towards the third and last obstacle, using his preternatural strength to gain a massive lead. He finished a full thirty seconds before Kairi, not having broken a sweat or breathing heavier than usual. "I win. Hooray!" Sora clapped his hands in mock congratulations and took Kairi's hand as she finished the obstacle course. "Boys win. Ah well, always next time. Right Sora?" Sora grinned before dipping his head, kissing her. "Yeah, always next time. And now your prize..."

Sora and Kairi sat on the bleachers, looking at Muscly and Melony arguing about what they'd just seen. "They'll never figure it out. At least Melony will but she'll keep quiet about it." Sora looked at the kids around him and saw most of them staring at them, still stunned with what they did during the competition. Sora grinned when he saw Riku sitting on the ground twenty feet away, seven girls crowding around him, looking for a date to some or other dance. But as per usual he sat in silence and did nothing, not even looking at them. But his attempts to have them leave him alone wasn't as successful as it had been a couple years ago. Instead of looking snobbish and rude like he did a couple years ago now he looked as if he was playing hard to get, the girls doing everything they could to warm his cold heart.

Before long Riku stood up and parted the sea of girls, walking through their ranks towards Sora and Kairi, girls trailing behind him. When he sat down beside Sora the girls stood a few steps away, obviously eavesdropping on the conversation.

Sora chuckled and took Kairi's hand, smiling at the girls as he did. Some of them returned his smile but most shied away, obviously taking care to not come between Sora and Kairi. "You know Riku. Just pick one and the rest will go away. Works for me, no guys flirt with Kairi and the girls leave me alone." Riku looked at him and glared at the girls, the girls giggling as he did. "Doesn't work. I tried that with Nicole this morning, they just come on faster, blubbering away as they do. So I left Nicole, she was fine about it but I wasn't. Think I can leave and go somewhere else? Twilight Town maybe? Or Disney Castle?" Sora eyed Riku in disbelief and sighed. "Stop complaining. Just tell them to go away. And you won't leave the Islands, you know you won't. You'll miss them too much." Riku shook his head and glared at the girls, but they only fluttered their lashes and smiled at him. "Yeah our other little places have girls too. Especially Twilight Town. Our Dark place might work, but it's so boring, nothing happening."

While Riku complained to Sora and Kairi Melony looked at them strangely, as if she could see something no one else could. As Riku talked she saw his shadow move, move on its own while Sora and Kairi's shadows were barely visible. 'Strange. I wonder where they come from? Kairi's always been here but the two boys, their new. At least I've never seen them before. But the way they sit, the way they move...It reminds me of _them._ So much so that I can imagine them with _their _eyes. But Riku and Sora are too young, too young to have _their_ power. One way to find out though. In a fight.'

Sora felt something change, barely a twitch in his heart but he knew. It was the same feeling he got each time something important happened. Like when Riku showed up in Traverse Town, and when he showed up again at The World That Never Was. 'What happened? What could possibly happen here?' Sora looked around and saw faint shadows part for his eyes to see what was beyond them. He caught a glimpse of swords out of the corner of his eye but when he looked again it was gone. 'Strange. Usually anything hidden by magic is revealed to me. The keyblade is after all the ultimate magic, it reveals incantations woven in the air. Most worlds are filled with ancient spells long forgotten, spells so worn down with time their purpose no longer exist. But here...Nothing. My house is filled with spells, spells I cast without meaning too. Even the Play Island...It's covered in spells.'

Sora saw Melony approach him, her light brown hair parted around her face, black gloves covering her hands. Sora frowned at her and saw her walk with a new strength, strength he recognized in warriors, people who have fought for their lives and won. 'She's been in a war. I don't know where but she's been through a war somewhere. And from the look of her she's good, not a mark on her.'

Sora watched Melony walk up the stairs and stop in front of him, her face tight in focus. "Who are you Sora? Really?" Sora saw Melony clench her right fist and he saw her dress fade away, revealing a black suit with a black tie. "You fooled everyone else but I see through your illusion. You're not normal. I can see that." Sora stood up and pushed Kairi and Riku away, his eyes sharpening with power he used only in a fight, a fight to save and protect, to maim and kill. "Yeah, and I can see through your disguise. Who are you, woman? Your name isn't Melony, is it?" Melony nodded with a faint smile and pulled out two rather sharp looking swords. "Yeah, my name isn't Melony. Beat me and I'll tell you my name."

In less than a minute Sora and Melony stood on the mat below the bleachers, most of the kids with Muscly in a circle around them. Word had spread rather fast that Sora and Melony were going to hack at each other with a sword. From the girls swarmed around Riku of course. Sora had suggested Riku be the judge, and Melony had approved.

Sora looked at Melony and swung the sword she'd given him around once, looking at it as he did. "What is this? Its light but strong. Balance is wide though." Melony chuckled and swung her sword around. "Yeah I guess. This is the sword every SOLDIER 3rd class is given. They can use their own sword but they tend to take one like this, only using their own sword if they reach 1st or 2nd. But enough talk. Let's do it."

Sora looked down at his SOLDIER sword and shifted it into his left hand, both to give himself a disadvantage and an advantage. An advantage because most people only fought with their right hand, unless they've been trained specifically to use both hands to wield a weapon. A disadvantage because he hadn't used his left hand alone, he'd always fought with a weapon in both hands or only with his right, but almost never with his left. "Here I come. Riku?"

Riku looked at both fighters and pulled a white cloth from his pocket, letting them know they were to start when the cloth left his hand. "Ready?" He looked at both and they nodded. "Fight!" Riku dropped the cloth and sprang back, Sora and Melony clashing where he stood a second before.

Sora sprang forward and brought his sword to bear, slashing wide at Melony as she did the same. Their swords locked and the white cloth Riku had dropped fell to the ground in two, cut in half when they clashed. Sora drew back and spun on his heel, a reckless move he only used when he knew his opponent wouldn't kill him. His sword cut through the air and met resistance, solid resistance. Sora pushed harder against Melony's sword but failed to gain even an inch. 'She's strong. I wonder how strong she is?' Sora drew back and narrowly avoided a strike to his shoulder. He saw Melony jump back as well and wait. Sora gathered his feet beneath him and jumped, taking to the sky. He saw Melony mimic his movements and they clashed in the air, both slashing to kill. Sparks appeared from the blades each time they clashed, becoming brighter and brighter the stronger their determination to kill became. When they finally settled back on the ground their swords were so notched that they resembled a saw more than a sword.

Sora looked down at his sword and examined the edges, chuckling when he saw the cracks marring the smooth steel. He took the blade between his fingers and bent the steel, the cracks in the metal becoming more and more pronounced as he did. When the blade was bent almost halfway the sword finally shattered, the cracks and notches in the steel giving way.

Sora watched the pieces of twisted metal fall to the ground and he laughed, he laughed in pure joy at the predicament he was in. "My my. This is a predicament isn't it?" Sora looked at Melony and saw her own blade break, the cracks much more pronounced than they had been in his own sword. "What now?" Sora chuckled again and stopped laughing, becoming serious once again. "Those toys couldn't do anything except snap. If you wanted to test me you should have brought bigger swords." Sora watched in amusement as Melony walked over to a wall, pulled on a tile and the wall slid up, showing hundreds upon hundreds of swords. When she had pulled six or so swords from the rack she came back, throwing the swords on the ground between them. "Pick one."

Sora eyed the pile of swords before him and shrugged, took a sword that looked promising and took his place. He looked down at the sword and examined it more closely. The hilt was fixed into the sword itself, no guard or anything else. The guard was literally part of the blade, a section of the steel cut away with a hilt fixed in place. The sword was heavy, the steel almost an inch thick and long, six feet at least. He examined the blade and eyed the edge, pleased with his choice. Sora looked at Melony and saw that she too had chosen a heavier blade. Her sword was strange, strangely designed, the guard a foot or so long. The serrated edge was seven feet long with seven pieces of steel protruding from the blade's edge, meant to tear instead of cut the flesh of those struck. All in all it was a good choice, especially because the gaps between the seven protrusions would provide grip on Sora's sword.

Sword in hand Sora faced Melony, the few wounds she'd given him burning. He hefted his sword and held it out in front of him, right hand in his pocket. "Bring it." Riku commenced the fight and Melony ran forward, sword held out to the side, edge towards Sora. Sora tried figuring out what Melony was planning but she reached him before he could, slashing her blade across him, ripping the sword from his grip. 'Sneaky.' Sora stepped back and watched Melony advance, not giving him an opportunity to reach his own sword. She slashed at him and Sora raised his arm, fingers splayed out to catch the blade before it tore him limb from limb. Sora heard gasps from the kids around them but he paid them no heed, focusing on the swing Melony directed towards him. When the blade was within reach Sora grabbed the back of the blade, shoving it down as he did. When the flat of Melony's sword was beneath him Sora jumped and stood on the edge, lashing out with his foot as he sailed over Melony.

Sora rolled when he struck the ground, smiling as he did. His foot had found its target, Melony's right shoulder. He heard a clatter behind him and knew Melony had dropped her sword, already grabbing at her injured shoulder. Sora walked over to his sword and hefted it up onto his right shoulder, left hand in his pocket. He turned and watched Melony shaking herself, picking up her fallen sword as she did. She swung around and Sora felt heat touch his face, fire passing his cheek. "Magic?" Sora looked at Melony and saw her hand ablaze with light, sword held in her other hand. "Yeah. Magic is fun isn't it Sora. Doing what you can't do, fighting at a distance."

Sora took in a deep breath and felt his sword cool, ice forming on the edge. "Magic it is." Sora looked at the spell Melony had thrown at him, freezing his sword into a solid chunk of ice. "Fine. You want to play like that. I'll do that too. Firaga!" Sora thrust his hand forward and a flame shot from his palm, burning the air with preternatural heat. He slammed his sword into the ground and the ice broke, small fragments still fixed to the cold metal. The firaga Sora had thrown was destroyed, lightning tearing it apart. He ducked to the side and felt his left side smoulder in pain, clothes falling away. He looked down at his chest and saw lightning crackle over his skin, shocking him again. 'She can use magic without saying the words, why am I surprised?' Sora dropped his sword and faced Melony, lightning crackling up his arm. "Thundaga!" Sora stuck his arm out and sent his spell forward, lightning shooting forward with blue might. Sparks descended to the ground and sprang through the air, bathing the area in blue light. Melony dodged the spell but the people behind her did not. When Sora realized his mistake he rushed forward, moving with speed he didn't know he had. But he wasn't fast enough, his spell moved through the air and reached out to ensnare the first student with blue light…

And stopped where it was, dissipating. Sora looked around for who had stopped one of his most powerful spells and saw a man, a huge sword strapped to his back with his hand raised toward where Sora's spell had been. "That was close." The unnamed man walked forward and Melony looked at him in shock. "Zack? Is that you?" Melony ran forward and stopped before the man, Zack, and looked into his eyes. "It is you." Zack nodded her head and smiled. "Hey Cissnei. How've you been?" Melony shrugged and dropped her sword, crossing her arms when she did. "Fine. I thought you were dead." Zack shrugged. "I did die in a sense. I woke up after Cloud left with my body still wounded, blood pooling around me. Let me tell you, it was tough. I even had to replace Buster Sword, cause I gave it to Cloud."

Each time Sora heard Cloud's name he frowned, left palm tingling with the remains of his last Thundaga. He walked forward and eyed Zack. "Zack, was it? How do you know Cloud?" Sora stiffened when Zack stuck out his hand, but reached out his right hand to shake his hand after he dropped his stone cold sword. "Zack Fair. Nice to meet ya." Sora nodded his head and looked at Cissnei, eying her in confusion. "Sora. So it's Zack and Cissnei?"

Zack watched Cissnei clash with a brown-haired kid from the shadow of the door but began to edge closer when the two started throwing around spells not really meant to be used around other people. He knew Cissnei could control her spells but he didn't know about the kid, with the strength he put behind those spells. When Zack knew the kid lost control of his Thundaga he stepped forward, the materia he planned on using already glowing. He watched Sora almost vanish with speed to stop his Thundaga but Zack knew he wouldn't make it so he raised his hand. 'Wall. Gravity.' Zack used the two spells he did not to destroy the Thundaga but to weaken it enough to force it to destroy itself. Wall to close it in and Gravity to drain it of its power.

Zack greeted both Cissnei and Sora but kept his eye out for any other danger. When Cissnei finally stopped fussing over him he told them to go on with their fight. "Go on. I'm starting to enjoy myself." Zack walked over to the bleachers and leaned back, eying the two with amusement. They shrugged and again crossed swords.

Sora slashed his blade across Cissnei's and he saw his blade start to crack. He struck again and again but the blades literally fell apart as they continued their fight. Before Sora's blade completely snapped he grabbed a sword from the pile on the floor, Cissnei doing the same. Before Sora's blade gave in he swung his sword up and around and slammed it into Cissnei's, breaking both her blades and driving her into the ground.

Sora looked down and saw Cissnei open her eyes, body slumped with Sora's blade and inch from her throat. "I win." Sora smiled and stuck out his hand, Cissnei took it and he helped her up. He smiled at her and looked at his broken swords, all that remained of them were two pieces of bent metal, but it was better than Cissnei's which as she herself said were "two hilt's and ripped foil." Sora looked at Cissnei and saw her look at Zack, calling him over. When he was close enough to whisper Cissnei drew them closer still. "Zack, can you show Sora what a SOLDIER 1st class is made of?" Zack looked at her and pulled his sword from his back, the grey blade looking brand new. "Sure. But if I can use one of your swords. From what I see Sora uses a…little too much strength for a normal blade to survive. If I had Buster Sword I'd use it but Cloud has it. So I'll fight him if you can do that for me." Cissnei nodded and led them to the wall of swords.

Enter Zack. When I wrote this I had just finished Crisis Core and I was having a wee bit of writer's block so I just wrote ten or so different ways this could have gone down and settled on Zack. Genesis was fun but I ran out of LOVELESS quotes. Angeal was fun too but I'm not high on wise and helpful advice so I settled on the one SOLDIER I can actually relate too: tossed away after he was drained of all use. Just like me...Ahh well, I showed them , I showed them all. Ah HA Ha ha. Maniac laughter aside Zack's fun to write, especially in battle.

I'm cutting off most of the author comments, it stops me from boring you and it makes it somewhat easier for me.

**Review! Please?**


	3. Prophesy

**Next chapter: Prophesy.**

When Sora reached the wall of swords he saw two objects in the very back, wrapped in cloth. He reached through the swords in front of the objects and pulled them out, pulling the cloth off as he did. "Keyblades?" Sora looked at the two keyblades in his hands and felt their power, empty and long dead. "Cissnei, where did you find these?" The two keyblades were red and silver, both so intricately designed Sora couldn't think anyone would use them in a fight. He looked up from the two dead blades and saw Cissnei stare at them. "Honestly, I don't know where they came from. Some guy asked if I wanted them for free and shoved them into my arms. I never saw anyone so grateful to be rid of something. Why? Do you know what they are?" Sora stared at Cissnei with wide eyes and nodded. "Give me a second, I gotta go tell Riku about this."

Sora ran over to Riku and told him what he'd seen, Riku told him to get Kairi and walked over to Cissnei, the two keyblades again wrapped in cloth, keyblades held in her arms. Sora raced up the stairs and the kids still attending the class crowded him, asking him who-knows-what about nothing. He jumped over them and told Kairi about the keyblades. She gasped when she heard and they both raced down the stairs, again jumping over the kids as they ran.

Sora and Kairi stood beside Riku as Cissnei pulled the cloth from the keyblades, her back to the kids. After a brief word Cissnei had told Muscly to keep the kids busy. So Riku, Sora, Kairi, Zack and Cissnei stood facing the wall, so close that no one could see the keyblades held between them.

Sora looked at the two dead keyblades and took them in his hands, again astounded by their beauty. "I never thought a keyblade could be so beautiful, never mind thinking I'll see any on Destiny Islands. Cissnei, on what world did the man give you the keyblades?"

Cissnei looked at Sora and saw the expertise shining through the excitement. Obviously he was used to wielding the key like weapons. "So this is a 'keyblade'? What's it used for? And how do the three of you know so much about them?"

Sora snorted and looked at Riku, almost asking for permission from his equal. Riku nodded so Sora stuck out his keyblade and summoned his keyblade, Ultima appearing. "I know about them cause I can use one. And I can tell you these keyblades belonged to people powerful, people so powerful the keyblade wielders alive now couldn't do anything about them. That I know for a fact."

Cissnei frowned. "Keyblade wielders? There are more?" Cissnei looked up at Zack and saw him frowning, and she doubted he understood more than her about the keyblades.

Sora nodded and looked at Riku and Kairi, smiling as he did. "Yeah, all five of them. Riku and Kairi both have a keyblade, King Mickey has one and my Nobody, Roxas has one."

Zack took one keyblade in his hand and almost dropped it, he was so shocked at its light weight. "What are these? I can see that they weren't made by human hands. Shinra was good at making things, but they could never make anything this light. And Sora, what did you mean that the keyblade wielders were so powerful you couldn't beat them? I can't feel anything."

Sora looked down at the keyblade in his hand and drew upon its inherent power, its strength awakening at his prompting. When power flooded into him he could barely breathe, the power was so heavy and intoxicating. "A keyblades power comes from the wielder. Even though a keyblade could only be used with the permission of its chosen wielder dead keyblades like these can still be used, even by people who couldn't touch a live keyblade. The inherent power of a dead blade dies with its wielder but you can ask to borrow the blades power, you just need to ask the keyblade its name and permission."

Sora drew away from the keyblade in his hand and dipped his head. "Thank you." He looked up from Angelic Grace, the keyblade in his hand, and looked at Riku and Kairi. "Angelic Grace wants to talk to you Kairi." Kairi took Angelic Grace and closed her eyes, frozen in place.

Kairi felt Angelic Grace touch her mind and she welcomed the contact. 'Keyblade wielder, I am Angelic Grace. I would like to share my story with you, of a keyblade master and her keyblade. Please allow me to tell my tale.' Kairi drew closer to Angelic Grace and felt memory stir deep within Angelic Grace. 'My wielder was Hope, and she was beautiful. I chose her as my wielder for her beauty, both her physical beauty and her personality, her patience and sincerity. We kept to the shadows of the world, embracing the Light. We kept the peace, but when battle was upon us Hope was the first to attack and the last to sheath her weapon, me, when the battle was ended.

But we found reason to leave the shadows and walk amongst everyone else. We discovered Warriors of Darkness and Light, seeking the ultimate weapon: The X-blade. We watched in fear as all wielders of the keyblade gathered for war, the X-blade the reason. We stood apart, along with a few others as war raged, consuming hundreds of worlds. Hope cried in sorrow as her friends died, wielders of Darkness and Light alike, all for that weapon of chaos. The keyblade war raged for years, no side achieving what they sought for. What the Warriors of Darkness lacked in numbers they made up for in pure power, both sides equal in strength. Hope knew that a keyblade wielder of immense power could change the tide of battle, and she knew that keyblade wielder would be her, if just to end the war.

For Hope was unique, she could withstand the effect Darkness had on her, could control the corruption in her heart. She had no need to fear being consumed, so she drew upon Light for every waking second she wielded me. As Light poured into her heart her power increased, until she was neigh the most powerful wielder alive. Except for one, a wielder of Light as well, Abigail was her superior, as well as her sister. The two stood side by side as the war raged, Abigail fighting for the Light before Hope joined the war. Abigail slew many foes before she herself was slain, by the very people she fought for. The Warriors of Light killed her in cold blood, fearing what she would do when the war was finished.

As Abigail was struck down Hope was making her way towards the Elders, keyblade wielders of old, to end the war once and for all. When Abigail fell Hope herself fell, clutching a wound in her side the Warriors of Darkness caused her from the very shadows we wandered. Hope fled, appearing once again when she was back to her full strength, Abigail's fate having reached her ears.

Hope called all wielders to one single world, a world Hope had emptied of life in her grief, a dead world. And there they gathered, in one final epic battle. As the Warriors of Light and Darkness clashed Hope spoke into their hearts, telling them to heed her sorrow. Sorrow they had caused in their lust for power. But they fought on, ignoring the words of forgiveness Hope uttered, their hearts driving them to their goal: the X-blade. And on that barren world Hope ended the war, killing herself in her desire for peace. The keyblade war was ended, with the X-blade out of reach to both sides, Hope's sacrifice ending it all. But I survived, I along with all other keyblades, left on that barren world as a reminder to all who dare seek the X-blade. Years passed before Abigail's keyblade found me, enough strength within her to send us through space, to warn keyblade wielders to never seek what their heart most desired: power.'

Kairi felt Angelic Grace removing herself from her mind, leaving her shocked at the tale she told. She looked down at Angelic Grace and nodded her head. "I will. I'll remember Hope's sacrifice. Thank you Angelic Grace."

Sora looked at Kairi and saw her wipe away tears, Angelic Grace returned to the shelf. Sora looked at the other blade already returned to the shelf, not having achieved waking the unnamed blade from its slumber. "And that's that. A keyblade is a weapon of the heart. From both the Darkness and the Light. I fight for the Light, Riku fought for Darkness but now fights for Dawn. Kairi can't fight for anything except Light, her heart clean of all power except Light. We fight to protect the worlds, or at least we fought to protect the worlds, now we chill and receive a proper education I'll never use outside of school."

Riku looked at the two dead keyblades and felt the unnamed blade touch his mind, but he didn't move from where he was, for he felt the secrecy within the blade. 'I am Dark Radiance wielder of Dawn, and I wish to speak through you. I must inform what has been wrought upon this world. Allow me, please.' Riku opened his heart to Dark Radiance and felt her take control, taking control of his body and voice.

"Wielders of the keyblade and Warriors of Light, heed my call. I am Dark Radiance, Abigail my master, long since devoid of life. War approaches fast, the fight of the keyblade draws near. All wielders will feel the consequence, the X-blade once more the centre of all struggles. My prophesy is directed for all who fight:

When the time draws near

And the moon is ablaze with blood

Lady of Night

Lord of Darkness

Hand in hand they pass through the Door

To fight and defend

Those who are dead and dying

Death awaits those who fight

Life awaits those who keep the peace"

Sora listened to Dark Radiance speak, shivers running down his spine as he heard the prophesy she bore. 'Lord of Darkness? Lady of Light? Who are they? And what Door?' Sora looked down at Ultima clutched in his hand and thought of all the doors he knew: the door to a worlds heart, the door to a human heart, and the Door to Kingdom Hearts. The door that could only be opened with the help of a keyblade, and from what Dark Radiance said the few Sora knew about weren't the only ones. "Dark Radiance, where are the other keyblade wielders? Where are the few chosen to balance the World? Where are they? And why have I never heard of others? Why was I alone? Why were we always so in the dark?"

Riku, guided by Dark Radiance, turned towards Sora and cocked his head to the side. "Rogue keyblade wielders are rarely informed that those trained by masters exist. It protects both the rogues and the masters. As to where they are you need a master of old to inform you, I was never permitted to know about the whereabouts of others, except those who made themselves known. And those precious few are dead, so they are of no use to you."

Sora thanked Dark Radiance and she relinquished control over Riku, giving him back his body. Sora looked at Riku and Kairi and shook his head. "What now? Who do we know who's a master? The king?" Riku shook his head no but kept an open mind. "He's a master but he's only been one for a few years. And from what Dark Radiance told us we need a master of old. Mickey hasn't had the keyblade that long, only about fifteen years. But that's because he's the king. He only became a master less than ten years ago, he told me himself."

Sora sighed and considered who he might know who could know where a master of old could be. "What about Yen Sid? Donald called him master. And from what he said he's known about the keyblade for years, much more than me." Kairi shrugged but Riku smiled, hope shining in his eyes. "You just might be right. Let's go."

Sora watched Riku raise his hand for a second before looking at his hand, confusion on his face. "Riku, Mickey said you don't belong to the dark anymore. When you tried opening a corridor in The World That Never Was the same thing happened." Sora sighed and looked at his friends. "What now?" When Cissnei sighed Sora looked at her and saw her pull something from her pocket, a card key to be precise. "Here, take my Gummy Ship." Sora took the card and stuffed it into his pocket. "Thanks Cissnei. Want to come along?"

Zack looked at Sora as he walked from the locker room, again wearing the white shirt from his school and the tie. He waved him over and smoothed the hair from his face, baring the scar marring his left cheek for the world to see. "Can I go with you?" Sora raised an eyebrow and Zack shrugged. "I can't stay here. I need to go."

Sora eyed Zack and saw him scratch his left cheek, the crossing scar. "How'd you get that?" Sora pointed at the scar and Zack touched it with a gloved finger. "When I helped a friend. He was the one who gave me the Buster Sword." Sora nodded his head and proceeded to his next class. "Meet us outside the gate after school. And, Zack, bring your sword. We might run into trouble on the way." Sora heard Zack walk away and wondered what troubled him so, to drive him to run.

"I hate school. I swear I hate it." Sora, Riku and Kairi were walking to the gate, tired after the stress from keeping their secrets. Kairi sighed and kissed his cheek, giggling when he blushed. When they turned the corner they saw Cissnei and Zack standing in front of the gate, Zack wearing clothes Sora recognized from Cloud and Cissnei wearing a blue dress. Zack had his sword strapped to his back, with a sack hanging from one shoulder. Cissnei too had a sack over her shoulder but she didn't look she was going with them, instead when they reached them she handed the sack to Kairi and wished them luck before walking away.

Sora, Zack, Riku and Kairi walked to the dock after they changed their clothes, and in less than an hour after school they were in space, after Sora brought the Gummy Ship to them by using the card key. Though Kairi had been in space before she looked out the window with her face smooshed against the glass, looking at the passing worlds. Sora was surprised to learn that Zack could actually fly a Gummy Ship, although not very well. So Sora had Zack take the controls, Sora only helping him when he didn't know what to do.

While Zack flew Sora examined Zack's sword, which he had named Misogi or "Killing the body." The edge of Misogi was sharp but very broad, allowing Zack to put as much power as he wanted behind a strike without having the edge snap off or chip. The spine of the sword was hard but supple, allowing the blade to bend rather than have it crack like Sora's swords had done in gym class. "Whoever made this was a genius. Who did make this anyway?" Zack looked over at Sora and shrugged. "An old friend, but I helped in the treating of the metal. It was my idea to have the spine softer than most other swords while having the inner edge super rigid, providing extra strength to the sword. But the way you swung your sword around today tells me to never have you use Misogi. You'll just break it."

Instead of being insulted by Zack's comment he became curious, curious as to why Zack would say something like that. "Well Sora, first thing you did wrong was just swing the sword, not planning of what part to have the sword touch. For example: that solid sword you used, the sword with the hilt built into the sword. You swung it around like a broadsword, unlike how you should have used it, like a claymore. The edge closer to the hilt was much more rigid than the rest, while the spine was much more supple. If you had used the sword like it had been designed it wouldn't have snapped, no matter how many times you swung it around like you did."

Sora looked down at Misogi, the golden lines running up and down the blade, the gray spine and silver edge shining in the dim light of the cabin. 'He's right, if I used Misogi it will break. But if I use a keyblade that wouldn't be a problem. A keyblade can't break, which I suppose is a good thing.' Sora hefted Misogi and laid it down next to the wall, examining the blade as he did. "Misogi is well made. No fault, no stains. Why would someone go to the trouble of making you a sword that perfect? Why would they give something like that to you, why not keep it to brag about their success?" Sora saw Zack flinch and wondered if he had struck a nerve.

Zack looked over at Misogi and back towards Sora, a grin on his lips. "Yeah, why would anyone do that? Well, how 'bout this as an answer: they owed me. Besides he had made dozens of swords more perfect than Misogi, so it wasn't really that much of a loss. Fact is the smith's probably dead, at least that's what I heard. Don't ask why he made it for me, or where it was, I won't tell. I promised him the secret of his art would die with him."Sora looked at Twilight Town and suddenly had a thought. "Hey Zack. Set us down close to the mansion, I wanna go see something."

When Sora stood in the woods outside the old mansion he told everyone he wanted to go on ahead with Zack. "I want him to see something." When everyone, Zack included, asked Sora what he wanted to show him he told them to go ahead. "Don't worry about us. We'll catch up. Wait for us at the station." Sora and Zack walked towards the old mansion, Sora's keyblade in hand.

Sora opened the gate to the mansion and lead Zack to the basement, to the place he'd woken up so long ago. When Sora and Zack stood in front of the pod Sora slept in he raised his keyblade and destroyed the pod. "That pod has caused way too much trouble. Anyway this is where I woke up, after over a year asleep. This is my secret, the place where I slept, forgotten and defenceless." Sora sat down on the ground and looked up at the remains of the pod, smiled and looked up at Zack. "Zack…Do you want to hear my side of the story?" Zack nodded and sat down across from Sora, leaning back on his shoulders.

"When I woke up I couldn't feel anything, neither joy nor sadness. I didn't even miss Kairi or Riku, I couldn't feel pain. Nothing, I was nothing. Forgotten, weak, worthless. But I lived, and I loved. I remembered why I wanted to be strong, to protect…everyone. Everyone I've ever loved, all my friends, everyone. But I couldn't…I was too weak even to stop my own world from being destroyed. So what was left for me to do? Find Riku and Kairi and hide from the Organization? Fight and die?

The answer was neither. I wanted to live, but only if Riku and Kairi were beside me, without them I wouldn't have survived.

What did I fight for? Justice? Or something…darker. More selfish? What did I fight for? Justice or…vengeance?"

Sora looked at Zack and waited for him to answer. "What did I fight for Zack? Justice? Vengeance? Both?" Zack looked at Sora and touched the scar on his cheek. "I don't know. But I know what I fought for? For my dream…For my honour. The only rule I gave the new recruits under me was this: Embrace your dreams…And protect your SOLDIER honour. I died for what I believed in, I saved Cloud. I fought for honour, I fought for my dreams. My dream…To become a hero…I guess I forgot about it and fought to survive.

Sora…You fought to make your dreams come true. That's not justice or vengeance, its believing you can become what you want to be."

Sora nodded his head and looked down at Ultima, the blade shimmering with power. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's go. Their probably wondering what's keeping us." Sora got to his feet and started walking from the room, when he turned back one last time he saw a woman standing where he'd sat down, looking at the pod. "Who…" When Sora blinked the woman vanished, leaving him to wonder if he'd imagined seeing her.

Sora and Zack walked through Twilight Town, both mulling over what they had said to each other. When they walked through the Sandlot Sora saw Hayner and Seifer fighting in a Struggle match. From the look of things Hayner was evenly matched, just struggling to block while Seifer struggled to get a solid hit in. When Sora showed up Hayner looked at him and fell over his feet, causing Seifer to win the match.

Sora walked over to Hayner with Zack trailing behind him, helping him up and greeting him. Within a second Pence and Olette showed up too, greeting Sora warmly. Hayner immediately got to the punch and asked if Sora had found Kairi. "Yeah I did. I found Riku too, or Kairi found him. We got back to the Islands a couple days ago, when we found something that gave us a reason to cut school. That's why we're here, to talk to someone I met a while ago."

When Sora insisted he had to get to the train station Hayner, Pence and Olette went with him, if just to say hello to Kairi. When they got to the station Sora was shocked to see Riku and Kairi surrounded by high level Heartless. Dozens of them. From the way Riku fought he seemed to be taking the brunt of the attack, shielding Kairi from harm. Sora ran forward with Fenrir grasped in his hand and saw Zack pull ahead of him, destroying a Dark Side in a single blow. Sora watched in awe as Zack destroyed dozens of Heartless in a couple seconds, but went to work when more appeared.

Sora rushed forward and asked if he could use Roxas, activating Valor Form when he got permission. Sora had found out days after he returned to the Islands that he could use Roxas as a substitute for both Donald and Goofy, allowing him to use Valor and Wisdom Form whenever he wanted to.

Sora ran forward, Lionheart and Guardian Soul clutched in his hands. He reached the first Heartless and slashed it to bits, moving on to the next from above. He beheaded an Invisible in a swooping slash with Guardian Soul and impaled a Giga Shadow through the gut with Lionheart. He swung around and the Giga Shadow slid of his keyblade, knocking a Dark Side from its feet. Kairi jumped up from the circle she'd made and destroyed the Dark Side with a burst of Light. Sora swung around and continued attacking, but was soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of Heartless. They piled onto him and began tearing him apart, the Giga Shadows scratching him and Dark Side beating him with their massive fists. "GET OFF OF ME!" Sora screamed his rage into the air and changed his drive in mid-combo, becoming Final Sora. Sora flew into the air and looked to his hands, blood seeping into his cupped hands. Oathkeeper and Oblivion circled him, striking out at any Heartless that got too close.

Sora looked at the blood pooled in his hands and felt a sudden urge to lap it up, swallowing a mouth-full of his lifeblood. 'Salty. But good.' Those words chilled Sora to his soul. It wasn't his voice that echoed in his mind, it was the voice of Anti. 'It's been a while Sora.' Sora snarled and thrust Anti away, willing him back into his heart. 'Tut tut. And I was just going to give you a drive. That's mean of you. Ahh well, I'm sure you can stop your darling Kairi from being consumed by yourself. Even though she already went down. Look.' Sora felt his head turning and he saw Kairi on the ground, her keyblade inches from her hand, Riku destroying the Heartless that swarmed her to devour her heart. 'Anti, I need your help. Please!'

Sora heard his Heartless laugh without humour, but still felt his body tingle with new power. 'I give to you: The completely unoriginal and ironic Divine Drive. Ta-dah!' Sora felt his body discarding Final form. He looked down at his hands and saw his skin pale to a snow white, with bandages wrapping around his wrists and hands. He felt his shirt rip and he looked back, two bat-like wings bursting from his shoulders. His shirt fell to the ground and he saw bandages snake around his waist, Japanese pants wrapping around his waist. The belt from the pants was gone, instead tied down by the bandages. Sora felt his shoes become even tighter, something clamping down on his ankles, heels and toes. He looked down and saw that he now wore pitch black boots. He felt something bubble from his mouth and he realized it was laughter. He knew that if he looked in a mirror he would be paler than a corpse, his body so lean it looked unnatural. He flexed his leathery wings and he rose into the air, his wings pushing him more than a hundred feet into the air with a single flap. He looked at his hands and realized his keyblades were gone, bone like plates of armour covering his hands. He opened and closed his hands and saw that the bone-like armour looked like claws.

Sora shot down and did what his instincts told him, to plunge his hand into the chest of a Dark Side. He saw his hand go in completely and pulled his hand out again, seeing nothing but Darkness covering his hand. The Dark Side faded away, leaving Sora to proceed to the next, and the next...and the next. Sora pounded all the Heartless in the area, barely getting a scrape himself and settled down on the ground, his bat wings wrapping around his body in the guise of a coat. He saw both Riku and Zack stare at him in caution but Hayner, Pence and Olette stared in utter awe and horror.

Zack watched as Sora destroyed the Heartless, laughing as he did. Zack looked into his eyes and saw that they were a rich gold, the whites blacked out completely. His pupils were mere slits and his mouth wide in sick pleasure. When Sora settled down on the ground his leathery wings swung from his shoulders to cover his form, looking exactly like a full length coat. Sora looked at him and Zack shivered, seeing nothing inside Sora's eyes except shadows and power. "Sora. Are you alright?" Sora looked at him and nodded his head, walking towards Kairi as he did. "Yeah, I'm gonna check on Kairi."

Sora sank down onto his knees next to Kairi and extended his hand, but still seeing the claws he drew away. Again relying on his instincts he willed the claws away, he looked at his hands and saw them without claws, normal except for being abnormally pale.

Sora touched Kairi and rolled her onto her back, taking care not to touch her wounds. When she was lying on her back he saw that her wounds weren't so bad after all, just shallow cuts and scrapes. Sora poured a potion down Kairi's throat and saw her wounds heal, leaving her pale but unharmed. She opened her eyes and looked into Sora's eyes, her mouth widening in a shriek as she looked into his eyes. "Get away from me!" Sora jumped back and spread his wings, hanging ten feet away from Kairi. She stood up and looked at him, eyes widening and face paling even more. "Sora? What have you done to yourself?"

Sora looked down at his body and took in the too lean limbs, the too thin arms, chest and legs. He looked down at his bandaged hands and chest, his blood stained hands. He forced himself to calm down and he willed the drive away, like he would a normal drive. The first thing he noticed was his wings drawing back into his body, the rest of the changes happened almost simultaneously. His skin regained its colour and the bandages crumbled away, his clothes still gone except for his pants and many belts. Sora felt his body becoming bigger and he looked down at himself, his body again as it was before Anti interfered.

Sora fell from the air and struck the ground, his vision fading. He lay there, his breathing laboured and his body slick with sweat. He pulled an elixir from his pocket and downed it, when it did nothing he downed another...and another for good luck. Sora stood up and slumped back down to the ground, his hands on the ground with his face turned upward, looking into the blue blue sky.

Sora walked onto the platform where the train waited for them to board and turned back to the three friends he left behind, smiling as he did. "Well time to go, I guess. See you around...or something." Hayner looked at him and turned away, hands buried deep in his pockets. Pence smiled widely at them and Olette was standing with her hands behind her back. Zack stood behind Sora but he sighed loudly enough that Sora turned around. "Sora, one thing. If, and only if, you're more cheerful I might die with happiness. So, c'mon, stop being so gloomy." Zack smacked Sora on the shoulder and smiled.

Sora looked down at his feet and sighed, looking up through his hair at his friends from Twilight Town. "We'll see you when we see you, I guess." Before Sora could blink Hayner had stepped forward and punched him in the jaw. "He said to be more optimistic, you moron. Be yourself. Stop thinking you can do everything yourself. You have friends who can help you, you just need to ask. So goodbye Sora. We will see you guys again. Count on it." Sora rubbed his jaw but nodded, looking up at his friends as he did.

Olette hugged Sora and Riku before she turned to Zack and waved. When she turned to Kairi she smiled and enfolded her in her arms, smiling as she did. She stepped back and walked to the entrance to the station, waved when she opened the door and stepped out, waiting for her friends. Hayner bumped his fist with Sora, Riku and Zack and hugged Kairi before walking away. Pence shook hands with them all and stepped away, waving before he left. "They're nice." Zack looked after the trio and boarded the train.

Sora sat on the train, Kairi asleep against his shoulder. 'Must be the fight. Why did that fight happen? Who sent the Heartless?' Sora came up with no answer but couldn't think of anything else, anything else not including the fact that he felt Kairi so close to him. 'She smells nice, and her skin's so soft. I wish this can last forever, Kairi against me with no worry in the world.' Sora closed his eyes but heard the seat next to him creek as someone sat down. Sora opened his eyes and saw that it was Zack, Misogi held in his hand. "I didn't see you use that. You didn't even have it in your hand for most of the fight, you just went at it with your fists and magic. Why?"

Zack looked at Misogi and raised it to his forehead, closing his eyes when his skin touched the cold steel. "Misogi will taste no one's blood except one. Shinra's. I fought for them, I gave my body for them. But when I survived my fight with Sephiroth they holed me up in a lab, running tests day after day after day...When I escaped they hunted me down like I was a threat. I guess I was...I did fight Sephiroth after all. Sephiroth, the undisputed nr. 1 of SOLDIER." Zack gave a short laugh with no humour and touched the scar marring his cheek. "I swore to protect my honour. When I left Shinra behind me I killed, I killed and killed, just to survive. On that one day when the army finally found me I gave up, I gave up what I believed in. I killed for the sake of killing, killed to live just a few seconds more. I killed for more time. And that shall haunt me...No matter where I run I can't change what happened." Zack lowered his head and ran his eyes over Misogi's smooth edge.

Sora watched Zack as he went over Misogi with his eyes, with an intensity that told Sora that Zack will never give up until he hunted down Shinra, hunted them down and destroyed them. "Zack, what do you fight for? Justice or vengeance?"

Zack chuckled and laid Misogi beside him. "Honour. I fight to restore my honour. Justice has no place for me and vengeance is far to bitter a brew to swallow. So I fight for my lost honour. Sora, I fight with you." Zack locked eyes with Sora and stuck out his arm, hand palm up. "Deal?"

Sora grasped Zack's forearm and looked into his eyes, sealing the deal. "Deal." Sora took his hand away and looked back at Kairi, looking into her beautiful face. "I fight for her. Honour has no play in this. I don't need justice and I condemn vengeance. I fight only for Kairi, my love, my friend."

Kairi opened her eyes and looked into Sora's eyes, his words still echoing in her ears. "Really? You just care about me?" Sora nodded his head and Kairi drew away, hands in her lap. "Good. Then stop doing what you've been doing. Bitterness doesn't sit well with kindness. You have friends, you have us, so ask for help if you need it."

Sora opened his mouth to respond but the train lurched to the side, spilling everyone on the floor. Sora looked up and saw Misogi heading for his face and he rolled out of the way, rolling onto Kairi, the edge of Misogi just scratching his cheek. Sora got to his knees and pulled Kairi up with him, pulling Misogi from the floor as he did. To his surprise Misogi was buried deep into the steel, at least four inches. "Holy...This thing is sharp."

Zack took Misogi from Sora and put it back into place on his back. "Yeah, enchanted metal. Permanently sharp and clean. Saves time taking care of it." Sora frowned and put his hand on Zack's shoulder. "So it's indestructible?" Zack shrugged. "Pretty much. Need a wrecking ball to scratch the steel. I don't even know how much it'll take before it snaps."Sora looked at Zack and frowned. "You tricked me. You said I'd break Misogi. You just said nothing can destroy it." Zack shrugged. "Yeah so? If you use my sword you'll want to use it again. Besides, you have the keyblade."

**Review! Please?**


	4. Warrior of Light

**Next chapter: Warrior of Light.**

Sora, Riku, Kairi and Zack stood in front of the Mysterious tower, looking up at the twisted spire. Sora opened the door and ushered them in. "Let's do it." When everyone was in the building Sora slammed the door shut and walked up the stairs, opening the door as he did. Sora walked over the threshold and looked back, calling his friends as he did. When he heard no response he looked back and saw...nothing."Guys?" Sora walked back over the threshold and saw that he was in another room, with a door at the end of it. Sora turned back and headed back over the threshold, seeing the room change again. "Weird."

Kairi watched Sora vanish so she ran through the door, seeing nothing she looked back and saw that she was alone, her friends gone. 'This sucks. Ahh well, I'll just find Yen Sid on my own.'

Riku walked through the door when Kairi and Sora vanished and found himself surrounded by Heartless. He summoned his keyblade and destroyed all the Heartless. When they were gone he ran through the door and into the next room. And so he continued, running through each new door, destroying Heartless as he went.

Zack walked through the door and found himself in a blackened room, seeing nothing. He called out and heard his voice echo, feeling a wind blow on the nape of his neck. He swung around and saw nothing, he turned around again and saw a pair of glowing golden eyes. He stood still and saw the eyes coming closer, eventually revealing a Shadow Heartless. Zack destroyed it and walked forward, feeling his way.

Sora wandered the rooms the doors he went through him showed. Soon after he decided to wander the tower the paths he could follow split, with three new doors instead of one to choose from. To make matters worse he ran into dozens of Heartless, each one different from its brethren. Soon he ran into a Heartless reminding him of Ansem, a human body with the Heartless symbol branded into his chest. "I am Sloan, fear me human." Sloan drew a sword from the air and charged Sora, Darkness streaming off him in waves.

Sora drew his keyblade and blocked Sloan's slash, feeling its weight push him back. 'Strong. Stronger that Ansem.' Sora looked into the golden eyes of Sloan and clenched his teeth, his formidable combat experience coming to his aid. From what Sora had learned from a stronger opponent he knew that Sloan would have a weakness, a weakness someone of with average strength wouldn't have, from their overconfidence and arrogance. Sora watched Sloan attack him again and again but held his ground, slowly being driven back. 'There.' Sora looked at Sloan's right foot and lunged forward as Sloan drew back for an overhead slash. 'He lifts up his right leg before he attacks.' Sora shouldered Sloan's sternum and felt him go slack against him, breathing ragged. Sora sprang back and prepared to finish it. He lunged forward with keyblade raised and slashed downward, aiming to behead the Heartless.

Sora's blade passed through thin air and he felt weight press down on him, Sloan sitting on his back. "Mmm. Well done, you observed and saw my weakness. Very perceptive." Sora pushed up but Sloan elbowed the back of his head, making his vision flash crimson. "Tut tut. Stay still. I want to enjoy my victory. Before I devour your heart." Sora felt Sloan touch his neck and he felt the hairs on his arms and neck stand on end, knowing he needed to do something or he'll be killed. Sora struggled and managed to unbalance Sloan's place on his back enough so Sora could slide away. Sora raised his keyblade and found himself alone, Sloan gone. He heard laughter echo in the air and he looked around, seeing the remains of a Dark Corridor vanish in the corner.

Riku destroyed the Heartless that so reminded him of Ansem, the Heartless who had called herself Maria. "This is not over human. My brothers shall destroy you." Before Maria vanished back into the Darkness she ran forward, her spear aimed at his throat. Riku shot forward and sank his keyblade through her non-heart, making her disappear that much faster. "I dare them to try Heartless witch."

Zack finally made his way out of the darkened room and breathed a sigh of relief, the few wounds the Heartless had made fading away. "Good thing I'm SOLDIER." Zack ran through the next door and fell into a large open space, an arrow pointing up at the opposite end of the room. Zack walked over to the arrow and realised what it meant, that Yen Sid was just beyond the next door. He sank down on the ground and waited for his friends.

Riku ran through the multiple rooms destroying the Heartless that stood in his way and burst through a door into an open space, Zack sitting on the other side of the room. "Yo. Finally finished playing around?" Riku walked over to Zack and sank down beside him, winching when the rib he had most probably broken fighting Maria ached. "Yeah. Where are the others?" Zack shook his head and pointed at the arrow behind him. "Donno. Guess they're not through yet."

Sora ran through the rooms and chanced upon an exception, a room with no door with a chest in the middle of the room. 'Treasure! Boo-ya.' Sora walked over towards the chest and opened it, a note the only thing contained within. Sora picked it up and opened it.

Fooled ya!

Sora read the two words and realised he'd been punked, probably the work of Sloan. He turned on his heel and ran out of the room, Heartless flooding from the floor, walls and ceiling. Sora looked at the flood of Heartless and thought there had to be thousands, if not more. 'At least their all weak. Soldiers and the like.' Sora raised his keyblade and realised all the Heartless stood in a single line, marching towards him ready to kill. "Well would you look at that." Sora pointed his keyblade down the perfect target and let loose with his fun. "Lightning Ray!" A single bolt of lightning shot forward, ripping through the Heartless with ease. When the spell ended Sora looked down the line they'd stood in and whistled, grinning as he did. "Gotha." Sora cast spells he wanted to and watched them rip apart the Heartless, adding fun to devastation. "Bingo." Before Sora was finished the Heartless were, hundreds of potions, Hi-potions and ethers laying on the ground along with huge lumps of Munny. "That was easy. And fun." Sora walked back down the hallway and picked up the spoils of war. By the time he was done his pockets were filled and all his wounds healed, his body fresh and revitalised.

Sora walked through the door and into open space, Riku and Zack sitting on the ground below an arrow pointing up. "Hey guys. That was fun. I even scored a couple items. Catch." Sora threw dozens of potions towards his friends and they caught the majority, the couple they missed bounced off the ground, sounding shockingly like coins falling to the floor. "And Kairi?" Sora looked at the door and back towards his friends. "Not here yet?" Sora sighed when Zack shrugged.

Sora, Riku and Zack sat on the floor, fooling around when a loud bang came from the door, making them jump. Sora looked over his shoulder towards the door and saw Kairi crawl in, her clothes torn and bloodied, clutching her left arm. Sora ran towards her and caught her as she fell, gasping when he saw her wounds. "Kairi...What happened?" Kairi looked at him and mouthed a word before she slumped over, her mind seeking release in sleep. "Sloan..." Sora looked down at his love and felt his heart boil, his body tingling with chills. He saw his vision flash crimson and black and he tasted burning metal on his tongue. But he calmed down, clamping down on the rage he felt.

Sora looked down at Kairi and saw her wounds bathed in Darkness, telling him that pure Darkness had wounded her. He pulled her right arm away from her body and bared her left, gasping in shock as he did. Her left arm was completely covered in Darkness, a faint silver light shining through the shadows clinging to her arm. He closed his eyes briefly and pulled himself together, finding comfort in the fact that one of the wisest men he'd ever known was in the next room. He opened his eyes and pulled his jacket from his body, covering Kairi's left arm and most of her injuries as best he could. He picked her up and walked over to the arrow, telling Riku to press the arrow as he did. Zack walked over to Kairi and he looked down at her, anger in his normally peaceful eyes. "She gonna make it?" Sora looked at Zack in shock and felt his heart sink, fear taking root within him. "I..I don't know." When the arrow's door swung open Sora marched through, being as gentle as he possibly could.

Sora walked through the next corridor with the final door in front of them, the door to Yen Sid's room. Many Heartless appeared but Riku and Zack destroyed them before they got close to Sora. The two that did slip through crumbled away into dust, the victim of Sora's latest power. The power of his will. He had found out at school that if he focused hard enough on something that something moved, moved to convenience him. As the day had passed he worked on the power, as he had nothing else to do. He was in school but he barely paid attention, giving his full attention only when Kairi was beside him, and then his focus was on her, not the teachers and their meaningless mumblings. As the day had worn on Sora grew used to his new power, had been able to destroy a brick with ease when he spotted one. So now he used that power and destroyed the Heartless, the more Heartless he destroyed the more he noticed that they were incredibly easy to kill, barely taking any concentration at all.

Sora kicked open the door to Yen Sid's room and walked in, the grey haired sorcerer standing beside a bookshelf, a book in hand. Yen Sid turned to him and raised a brow, moving to stand in front of his desk as he did."Sora...You have destroyed Xemnas. And now you come to seek my wisdom once more." It wasn't a question but Sora nodded anyway, Riku and Zack standing at his shoulders. "Master...I need your help with something first." Sora laid Kairi on the ground but Yen Sid shook his head, motioning for him to pick her back up again. When Kairi was again in Sora's arms Yen Sid waved his hand across the space in front of him, a stainless steel table appearing in a puff of smoke. Sora laid Kairi on the table and pulled his jacket from her form, revealing her injuries.

Yen Sid looked at the young Princess of Heart before him and frowned, considering a thought. "I wonder..." Yen Sid pulled Kairi's shirt away, showing a black mark carved into her skin directly above her heart. "Yes...It is so." Yen Sid touched Kairi's left arm and felt the Darkness cool his fingers, repelling him. "Yes...Sora, it would appear to me that Kairi has been exposed to an almost infinite amount of Darkness. Darkness meant to destroy but changed to shield instead. Why it happened in such a strange manner I do not know, but, and this is mere speculation, it could be the way she was attacked or the fact that Darkness cannot taint her." Yen Sid closed his hand above the mark adorning Kairi's skin and pulled, pulling the seal with him. A dark shroud came from the mark and Yen Sid purified it with Light, destroying it. "I have taken all the Darkness marring her body. However I must leave her arm as it is. For that is not Darkness. It is Inferno, a power far older than either Darkness or Light." Yen Sid brushed his fingers once again over the shroud covering Kairi's arm and drew the Darkness away, revealing what has truly happened.

Kairi's arm was stained with blood, blood almost black with Darkness. Yen Sid wiped it away and moved to the side, showing the three young Warriors what has changed in their friend. But before they could do that Kairi awoke with a scream, a scream filled with terror. Sora moved toward her and pulled her into his arms, her scream dying away almost instantly. "Sora? What happened? I remember Sloan stabbing me with that sword but nothing else. What happened?"

Sora hugged Kairi and whispered to her everything that's happened so far. "You woke up before we could see what happened. What did happen anyway?" Sora pulled away and ran his eyes over Kairi's body, lingering on her legs and face. When his eyes passed over her left arm he stopped, staring. "Your arm...What happened?"

Kairi looked down at her arm and gasped, terror building in her. An inch from her elbow her skin had turned a shining silver, almost glowing. The skin of her hand was darker, almost a grey tinge to it. Her palm however was shining with a pale blue light, lighting up a circular pattern now covering her palm. She closed her hand multiple times but felt no difference, except her nails. Her nails had grown, sharpened and became pointed. Where her nails had been a pale pink they were now black, looking like a teardrop. She fingered her claws, because that's what her nails had become, and felt the hardness. Nails hard and keen enough to slice through muscle and skin like it was nothing. "What is this?"

Kairi looked up from her changed arm and looked at her friends, her own terror shining within their eyes. She turned her gaze away from them and into the wise eyes of the old man, Yen Sid. "Master Yen Sid, what happened to me?" Yen Sid looked at her arm almost in fascination and walked over to his desk, pulled out a scroll and opened it. He turned it around and laid it across his desk, looking at the glyphs written on it with a single drawing the information it explained. Kairi stood up from the table and looked at the scroll, at a man with his arm raised, a blue light shining from his palm. She looked at the glyphs and read that the man had a unique ability, something she read as "Licked by the shadows, illuminated by the moon." She continued her reading but soon gave up, the text so outdated she could barely understand what it said. "What is this?"

Yen Sid finished his reading of the scroll and again looked at Kairi's arm, the silver skin and the glowing palm. "Kairi, you have been blessed. Cursed as well but blessed. To be given something so unknown and unexplained as the 'Shadow Hand.' It's almost beyond my comprehension." Yen Sid raised his hand in front of himself and the stainless steel table vanished, four deep chairs taking its place. Yen Sid sank down into his own seat and waved the young ones before him towards the chairs, bidding them to sit down. "Sit. The tale of The Shadow Hand is long and troublesome to tell."

"Long ago there was born a man, weak and without friends, but a man nonetheless. He fought for his world in a war that had ravaged his childhood, watched his siblings and friends die, one by one. The price of war he said. Nothing worthy is achieved without sacrifice. He fought in the war for many a year until one day he was captured by his enemy. He was held in a cell of steel and stone for neigh a year before he finally spoke. But what he spoke was not the information he'd been tortured into giving, no, it was information his family had kept hidden from all but a few. He spoke of death brought about by a mysterious gift, a gift none have been given for millennia, Shadow Hand. The more the words fell from his mouth the darker the room became, the colder and heavier the very air became. When he finally closed his mouth in death a Darkness descended upon him, a Darkness that fed upon his body. But his body absorbed the Darkness, growing stronger the more it fed.

When the nameless man again opened his eyes all had fled, just his broken and stained weapons left behind. The man ripped the chains and stakes that his enemy had used to keep him bound from the stone wall, he took up his weapons and slaughtered all who opposed him, bathing the ground in blood, his insane laughter heard from his own army. When he finally rid his world of the men and woman he had fought for so long he returned to his army, his clothes torn and bloodied, one arm aglow with a blue light.

When the man died the Shadow Hand was again lost, as it had always been until another found its Dark power to kill and maim. And so the story of the Shadow Hand lived on, in blood and death, its user so drenched in blood of the slain they forever lost their heart to madness. The few who retained their awareness became warriors of great renown, their names forever remembered in history.

But many eons ago the Shadow Hand was lost again, only appearing once in more than three millennia. A woman took up the mantle, a woman plagued by all for she was what none wanted to be, without love and without friends. When she was sold into slavery she was bound by her new master, forced to go for days without refreshment or sleep, forced to work without end day after day. The day came when she could not continue, her body so ravaged by labour and exhaustion that it had become but a husk, alive only through sheer will. When her master beat her she rose up, arm drenched in blue light, slew her master and ran. She ran and continued to kill to survive, becoming a mercenary to survive.

She was born a slave, she died a Guardian.

No one has been able to find the origin of the Shadow Hand, it has always appeared for as long as anyone could remember. Why it appears to some people and not others remains a mystery, why it appears in one time and not another is unknown as well."

Yen Sid fell silent, Kairi staring at her arm as she did. "But what is it? What is the Shadow Hand?" Kairi looked up as Yen Sid sighed, a deep troubled sound. "Kairi, I don't know. But I do know this: that power is one not borne of Darkness. As I understand it feeds on Darkness, but it does not come from the Darkness. Like I told Sora the Shadow Hand is borne from Inferno, something so old it has long been thought a myth at best."

Kairi looked down at the Shadow Hand and ran her right arms fingers over the silver skin, the skin that reminded her of mercury. "Your scroll said something about 'licked by the shadows, illuminated by the moon.' What does that mean?"

Yen Sid examined Kairi's arm and looked at the scroll still open on his desk, reading the sentence in question. "This is what the scroll implies. Forgive me but this is a very rough translation.

Given through Darkness the Hand of Shadow reveals what is within. What is within can cause joy or misery. He who wields this raw and ancient power will forever be marred. Revealing the shadows within: the hatred, the lies, the regret. Showing the virtues, the illumination of the moon: courage, love, joy, honour, sympathy, strength. Power changes, whether for Light or Dark is unknown."

When Kairi had exhausted her questions on the Shadow Hand Sora asked the question they had went to Yen Sid in the first place. "Master, where are the other keyblade wielders?" Yen Sid stared him for what seemed the longest time before he responded. "So you know. Where did you find out?" Sora shrugged and pulled Angelic Grace along with Dark Radiance from the sack slung on his back. "Angelic Grace. Dark Radiance. I never thought I'd see you. Least of all with rogue keyblade wielders."

Angelic Grace glowed with red light and Sora saw Yen Sid stiffen before he nodded. "I see. I shall call a Master to come pick them up." Yen Sid nodded his head. "Yes...I shall see if _he_ is willing. Thank you Angelic Grace. Dark Radiance. Sleep well, masters."

Sora cleared his throat and Yen Sid looked at him. "Master, you called us rogues. What is a rogue?" Yen Sid closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, eyes half lidded. "Very well. I shall tell you. Keyblade wielders can be divided into three different classes: Master, Student and Rogue. A Master can travel from world to world without fear, having completely mastered his or her keyblade. A Master can travel from one haven of keyblade wielders to another, their presence honoured by all.

A Student, on the other hand, can only leave a world with the permission of a Master. A Student is under the guidance of a master at all times, sometimes even living together with their master along with fellow students. A Master is expected to discipline and train their Students, any number of Students can be under the training of a single Master.

A Rogue is, and will, always be separate. A Rogue trains for the most part on their own, no Master and no other Students. In a way they train themselves. Like you three, you are Rogues. Hope and Abigail were Rogues as well, but they were given the choice of becoming Masters. Even though they both declined they still went from sanctuary to sanctuary without fear, treated with the same respect as any Master.

Long ago the Masters decided to make being a Rogue taboo, they said allowing a Rogue to live is like allowing Darkness to flourish. Rogues, for the most part, have always used Darkness one way or another. Whether they were Darkness users or merely came into contact with Darkness on regular intervals they were still frowned upon. So the Masters hunted them down, only to stop when the Rogues became stronger and stronger. Now the Rogues and the Masters live separate, not coming into contact unless absolutely necessary. Every now and again Students will go Rogue hunting, even though Rogue hunting is considered barbaric and almost animalistic. But for the most parts the peace between Rogues and Masters are kept, only feuding once every century or so.

Can you see why I don't want the three of you to become known? The three of you are, and will always be, unique. A wielder of Dawn, a Warrior who died but kept living, a Princess of Heart with a keyblade along with the Shadow Hand. Never before has a keyblade wielder also had both a Heartless and a Nobody, rarely has a wielder of Dawn made himself known, and never, and I do mean never has a Princess of Heart had a keyblade. To make matters worse you are Rogues, not having a way of protecting yourselves. I have long since retired my keyblade and Mickey is far too inexperienced to protect you.

And for that reason I have called _him_, a Master so powerful none can oppose him. He is their unofficial leader, all come to him for wisdom. But he does not intervene with the ways of the world, nor does he use more power than the weakest of Masters. Instead he is a researcher, finding secrets long forgotten. His first great finding was how to remove a heart from a long dead body, whether it be human, plant or spirit makes no difference. But the practice was forbidden, instead he uses it in healing, bringing back those who had recently died in combat. Also, he is known as one of the few Masters who never uses his keyblade. Not when he was a Student, not when death awaited him, not even when hundreds of his enemies tried destroying him at once. His name is Uriel."

Sora looked at Yen Sid and considered never using his keyblade. 'I wonder why?' Sora looked at Kairi and saw her examine her arm in fascination. "Kairi, don't worry about it. We'll figure out why you got Shadow Hand." Sora looked at Yen Sid and thanked him. "When will he get us?" Yen Sid looked at him with his large eyes and chuckled. "I have not yet called him. But I shall do that now. And Kairi, Shadow Hand teaches you how to use it. Whether you decide to use it or not is entirely up to you." Yen Sid rose to his feet and walked out of the room, dismissing Sora, Riku, Kairi and Zack from his company.

Sora looked at the door and shook his head. "No way in hell am I going through that again." Sora looked out the window and smiled his trademark smile. Kairi looked at him strangely and followed his eyes. "Sora. No, we'll take the stairs." Sora snorted and looked out the window, looking back before he leaped. "See you on the ground!" Sora sailed through the air and closed his eyes, summoning his keyblade as he did. He felt his keyblade touch his palm and he slung it over his shoulder, almost like Zack carried his sword. When Sora was a few feet from the ground he drew Ultima and swung it towards the ground, a torrent of air shimmering on its edge. "Aero." Sora's aero broke his fall so he settled gently on the ground, smiling as he did.

When Kairi swung the door open she saw Sora standing in front of the Gummy Ship, arms crossed with a frown on his face. "Hey Sora. How's the fall?" When he failed to chuckle Kairi walked up to him and hugged him, squeezing a smile onto his face. "There we go. You look like Leon when you frown like that. Freaks me out." Sora chuckled again and squeezed her hips, pulling her in for a gentle kiss. Midway through the kiss Kairi opened her mouth, letting her tongue touch Sora's lips, causing him to jump in surprise.

Sora leaned into Kairi and kissed her, slow and steady, arms wrapped around her protectively. He'd just started to relax when her tongue moved over his lips. He allowed it but when a chill crept up his spine he jumped, Ultima forgotten in his haste. He swung around and saw something from his best dreams appear, a vast Corridor of Light. And through the Corridor there came an armoured figure, armour the colour of snow and silver.

Sora watched the Warrior garbed in Light walk through the Corridor with two others, the two at his side wielding keyblades. Before the Warrior of Light stepped completely through the Corridor it was consumed by Darkness, the brilliant Light fading away. The two warriors shadowing the Warrior of Light raised their keyblades in preparation but the Warrior of Light merely raised his hand and the Light burned through the Darkness, leaving it even more brilliant than before. Sora stared at the arching Corridor and fell to his knees, awe clawing at his heart.

The Warrior of Light stepped out of the Corridor and approached Sora, the two warriors flanking him. When he was within Sora's reach he looked down and locked his gaze with Sora. "Are you the ones I was summoned for? The Rogue ones with no Master?" When Sora remained silent the Warrior of Light reached down and pulled him to his feet. When Sora stood firmly the Warrior reached up and pulled the crown-like helmet from his head, revealing pale skin, dark red hair and greenish eyes. "I am Uriel. Master and teacher to all who seek my wisdom." When Sora remained silent Uriel turned to the others, who stared at him in awe as well. "Why art thou mute? Are you not those I have been summoned for?"

**Review! Please?**


	5. Dark Blessing

**Next chapter: Dark Blessing**

**Religion...a loose topic, one I seldom talk about willingly. But in this case I made an exception. Darkness blesses those who have the power to resist its seductive power. The very thing the Morningstar fell for, Pride.**

Riku looked at Uriel and felt mad laughter bubble from his mouth. "Master? You're a kid, younger even than us." Uriel was in fact young, looking twelve or thirteen. Uriel got a look of disgust on his face before his expression returned to what it had been, smooth and perfectly blank. "My age is not as it appears. Are you or are you not the ones I was sent to find?"

Sora looked at Uriel and nodded. "Yeah, it's us. Why?" Uriel turned back to him and Sora felt his heart start to pound, awe still clawing at his heart. "We shall return to our Haven. Ready yourselves, it is quite the thrill the first time." Uriel raised his hand and another Corridor of Light appeared. "Come." Uriel walked into the Corridor and his two Students followed him, all three of them waiting patiently. When Sora, Riku, Kairi and Zack didn't move Uriel shrugged and walked forward again, helmet again covering his face. "Why do you hesitate? Do you not wish to come with me?" Sora shook his head but said nothing, not wanting to tell Uriel the plan he'd figured out to leave school for an undetermined amount of time. So instead he lied using the truth, which was almost the same as the truth. "We have something to take care of first. Can you wait for us?"

Uriel nodded but followed Sora as he walked into the Gummy Ship. When Sora asked what he was doing he just shrugged. "I'm curious as to who the three of you are. I shall accompany you as you travel. My Students shall return to our Haven and inform the others I have business elsewhere." Sora had no objection so he called his friends and left Twilight Town far behind them, the Islands coming into view sooner than could have been possible. Sora had noticed that Uriel had removed his helmet when he sat down beside him in the cockpit. Uriel had mouthed different words under his breath but Sora had not once caught the words. When he had asked Uriel what he was doing Uriel had shrugged. "Just helping you along." Sora frowned but held his tongue, not curious enough to ask how he was helping them. When Sora did land on Destiny Islands Uriel had dismissed his armour, leaving him in black pants with a stark white loose-fitting shirt.

Sora, Riku and Kairi parted ways when they landed, Zack following Sora with Uriel trailing behind, not choosing to follow any of them. When Riku did turn off to his own house Uriel stayed behind Sora and Kairi, who had been talking about what they were going to do hiding their very 'unique' powers. Kairi especially was concerned about her arm, as Uriel had asked her about it first chance he got. Riku suggested a coat but Kairi had refused, saying she didn't want to look like a stalker stalking Sora. Sora had suggested a glove, a full length glove, but she had just shook her head, obviously thinking how it would look. Oddly, Uriel had given her the suggestion she favoured, a bandage. A bandage wrapping around her arm and fingers.

When Sora and Kairi finally left Zack and Uriel behind them in the sitting room of Sora's house they went up to their room and Sora quickly grabbed the bandages he kept in his desk drawer. When Kairi frowned at the drawer and inspected the contents she raised an eyebrow and bit her lip. "Why do you have all this in your drawer?" Sora walked over to his desk and looked at the drawers contents. The drawer had needles, bandages, gauze, alcohol wipes and what looked like thread. "Better to not need it and have it than not have it and need it. Alien vs. Predator taught me that." Sora grabbed some of his clothes and stuffed it into a sack. He pulled a coat from his closet and put it on, his sack hidden under the black material.

Kairi looked down at her Shadow Hand and ripped the packet a bandage was in, seeing the length as it fell. When she thought it was long enough she wound it around her hand, but when she only reached her wrist she bound it in place and took another bandage from its packet, winding it around her fingers, concealing all the silver skin. When her arm was completely concealed she stared at herself in the mirror and realised she looked ridiculous. She sighed a tired sigh and looked away, seeing one of her coats hanging in Sora's closet. 'Opportunity. Act upon your own luck without regret.' Kairi pulled the bandages from her arm but kept the one bound around her hand. She pulled her dark red coat from Sora's closet and put it on, wrapping the bandages around her left arm, making it look kinda cool. She flexed her muscles and tightened her hands grip, feeling the bandages becoming looser. 'There's no helping it.'

When Sora and Kairi stepped into the sitting room they noticed Sora's mom was in the room, speaking with Zack and Uriel. Sora cleared his throat and his mother swung around, unshed tears sparkling in her blue eyes. "Oh Sora, you're leaving again? Why? Why do you always leave me?" Sora looked at his mother and looked away, his throat thick with suppressed emotion. "I'm sorry. I have to go. I need to talk with the others. I need more training, I'm too weak to protect this world on my own." Sora's mother broke down and collapsed onto the couch, falling into Uriel's lap. "I'm so sorry."

Uriel looked at the crying woman in front of him and he felt sympathy touch his heart, his long forgotten keyblade willing itself into existence. 'No my love. We are far too powerful to be together. Our very presence will destroy this world.' Uriel felt his keyblade bleed sadness into his heart and he ached with loneliness. "No, I am sorry." Strange that Uriel spoke both to the crying woman and the in pain keyblade. "We will return, one day." Uriel meant to speak only to the woman but he again spoke to his keyblade. 'We will rise once more, when the time comes.'

Uriel pulled the woman from his lap and stood up, looking at Sora and Kairi. "Are you prepared?" Sora and Kairi nodded but Uriel didn't, his eyes locked on the bandages tied around Kairi's hand and coat. "We are prepared, but you, Kairi are not." She looked at herself but found no flaw. Uriel stepped forward with a forgotten spell on his lips. When the wordy spell was present in Uriel's hand he stepped forward, lifting Kairi's hand, and branded her wrist with a circular seal. "The bandages will remain fixed, as long as your will is firm and unbroken. If you will it the seal will release, the bandages and coat vanishing with it. You might find it useful, one way or another."

Kairi looked at the seal marking her wrist and nodded in thanks, already feeling the seal knawing at her will, not causing any difference but present nonetheless. "Let us depart." Kairi looked up as Uriel raised his right hand, his white and silver armour forming once more. Uriel opened a Corridor of Light and stepped through, waiting for Sora and Kairi.

Sora stepped into the Corridor and felt himself move, before he could blink he was standing in front of Riku's house. He shrugged his shoulders and walked up to the door, knocking. Riku opened immediately and looked Sora up and down, grinning as he did. Sora looked at Riku and saw that he again had his blindfold with him, wrapped around his injured wrist. Riku had a coat on that eerily resembled Organisation 13's but Sora said nothing, just heading back toward Kairi.

Uriel looked at the three keyblade wielders and their Warrior friend, already gathering the Light needed to open a Corridor strong enough to penetrate the Haven's defence. "Ready to depart?" To Uriel's amusement Sora again shook his head, already walking. "No, I want to go give someone something. It's gonna take a couple minutes."

Sora felt the little weight Dark Radiance and Angelic Grace had on him and felt a sudden protectiveness. 'I can't have them take these two. If they wanted to have everyone know about the War they would have appeared to Uriel, not us. So they must not want to become known again.' Sora felt a nudge in his mind and he knew he was correct, already heading back towards the school, to the safety of Cissnei. If Uriel felt any impatience he hid it well, for he followed Sora without complaint, mute, his armour again discarded.

When the school came into view Sora quickened his pace, telling Kairi to wait for him. Before anyone could protest Sora was a hundred feet from them, his body almost flying through the air as he ran, almost. When Sora reached the twenty foot wall surrounding his school he jumped, easily sailing over the imposing stone. He glided over the canopy of roofs the school had until he reached the gym, where he allowed himself to fall. Sora fell to the ground and landed silently, already heading for the entrance to the gym.

Sora swung the door to the gym open and saw something that shocked him, Cissnei dual wielding pistols and hammering bullets into targets on the far side of the gym. Sora watched as Cissnei swung around in the air, bullets cutting through the air to knock a hole into the bulls-eye on each target she fired at. When her mags were empty Sora cleared his throat and saw Cissnei whirling toward him, fingers squeezing triggers of empty guns. Sora sighed a mental sigh and thanked himself for waiting until Cissnei's guns were empty.

Cissnei swung around and squeezed the triggers of her guns, hearing the clip that informed her anew that they were empty. She looked at her actual target and realised it was Sora, who on closer inspection, was sweating, forgive the pun, bullets. "Hi Sora. Back already?" Cissnei holstered her pistols and walked over to the wall with the swords, reached for a switch on the inside and the panel next to her swung open, guns of all sorts appearing on panels. She took four magazines from the wall and stuck one in each of her guns holsters, reloading with the other two. She turned back to Sora and saw that he was beside her already, having moves as silently as a ghost. 'Sheesh, this kid scares me. Makes me wonder why I like him so much.'

Sora looked at the panel rigged with guns and shrugged. 'I wasn't surprised with swords but guns I'm surprised? Weird.' He reached for a pistol only to have Cissnei slap his hand. "So Cissnei, what are you doing on the Islands? Besides playing with swords and shooting some awesome guns? And teaching of course." Cissnei chuckled and sighed as if in exhaustion. "I don't know really. This is where my heart brought me. I've been going from world to world for so long I don't care where I wind up anymore. So Sora, why are you on the Islands? And not some hotshot world protecting cute girls from Heartless and the like?"

Sora chuckled and leaned against the wall, looking up at the roof. "Honestly, this is my home world but I don't think it's where I want to be anymore. This world is so small, and like it doesn't want me anymore. Here." Sora took a sack from inside his coat and put it against the small table the panel made, undid the knot and pulled the keyblades from its depths. "I want you to keep these for me. I can't drag them around with me if I'm going where I think I'm going. And don't worry, I'll keep Zack out of trouble."

Cissnei looked at Sora and saw humour mixed with worry mar his expression. Cissnei looked down at her hands and realised they were shaking, shaking for the first time in...she didn't even know how long. 'He's not a child. He can take care of himself. And the Army's not after him, he's not like Zack.' Cissnei closed her eyes slightly and looked over at the panel with guns and ammo, chewing at her lip. She took a case from behind the panel and opened it, seeing what was inside she closed it again, bitterness touching her heart. She put it on the table the panel made next to Sora and looked away, the bitterness fading away. "Take it. Take care of it. And Sora, don't miss."

Sora looked at the case Cissnei gave him and opened it, seeing what was inside he looked up, into Cissnei's brown eyes. "Can I really take this?" Cissnei nodded and walked away, leaving Sora alone in the gym. He took the case and ran, moving twice as fast as before.

Sora skid to a stop feet from his friends and told Uriel he was done. "Alright. Prepare yourselves, the first sight is always the best." Uriel raised his hand above his head and a Corridor of Light blossomed from his hand, consuming Uriel along with the other keyblade wielders and Zack.

Sora fell to his knees and looked up, his eyes still adjusting to the bright light from the Corridor. He blinked a few times before he gasped, amazement foremost on his mind. Sora looked at the ceiling far above him, the pure white stone alit with lanterns. He looked at the marble walls and floor, everything white with varying colours webbed into the pure white, a stone table in one corner, red velvet couches in another, and many others besides. All in all the great hall Sora was in radiated comfort and home, who's home it was Sora didn't know. He heard a moan beside him and he watched Riku rise to his feet, Way to the Dawn in his hand. Something pulled Sora's sleeve and he saw it was Kairi, her eyes still bleary and unfocused. He rose to his feet and pulled Kairi with him, Zack and Uriel missing.

"You have awoken. Good, we have many questions for you." Sora looked to his left and saw the enormous door leading outside swing open, many men and woman stepping through, all of them wearing some part of disjointed armour. Many bore keyblades and many did not, some were young, not even in their teens and some were old, at least over sixty. And at their head was a woman, the one who seemed to have spoken, in full armour except for her head being uncovered and her arms being bare of all clothing, showing intricate black marks. And trailing behind them all was Uriel and Zack, both in chains with four men behind them, all four with keyblades pointed toward Zack. Zack grinned at them. "Yo, you missed all the fun we had, barging into a meeting like that. I think I might even have stepped on a cat, all I know about that little meeting is a torn up leg and fur in some uncomfortable places."

Sora looked at the woman who had spoken before, Theresa, and lowered his head once more. He looked at the chains wrapped around his chest and sighed. "I told you, we came here to meet others like us. We didn't even know there were others until a friend told us about the Masters." Sora felt the chains tighten around him and he heard Kairi stifle a scream, her chains tightening once again. "Let her go, you gain nothing from hurting her." Theresa chuckled and grabbed him, tugging his hair, forcing his head up. "And like I told you, Rogue, I shall do as I please." Sora heard a sigh from his right and he heard something crack, followed by a sound akin to blood dripping on the floor. "Theresa, these children know nothing. The boy has told you the truth, they know nothing about what happened yesterday." Theresa gave Sora's hair another tug before letting him go, walking to his right, towards Uriel.

"Uriel, you look worse for wear. Why is that? I know you can escape these chains with ease, and yet you break your arm to loosen the girls bonds. How noble." Uriel looked at his mutilated arm and again pulled with what little strength he had in his broken arm to loosen Kairi's chains a little more. "Not noble. I care, a trait you still lack. And now you get paid for not caring, a torturer. The Elders really outdid themselves this time."

Sora heard Uriel scream in pain before he stopped, the only sound Sora heard was Kairi crying. He turned to his left and locked eyes with Riku, who was looking straight ahead, a look of concentration on his face. 'He's suppressing his power, his true power, Dawn. Yen Sid said few Dawn wielders have made themselves known, but why? Is it because they were never accepted, never respected?' Sora closed his eyes and called out to his own power the Masters would never accept, his Heartless and his Nobody. 'Will they accept us? Will they respect us? Will they hunt us down like rabid dogs? One way to find out.' Sora opened his eyes and drew upon his latest power, Divine Drive. But before he could activate it he heard Kairi scream in pain. "Kairi!" Sora swung himself around and felt the chains binding him in place tighten even more, and continue to tighten. He gasped and he felt something snap, followed quickly by pain. 'A rib?' Sora felt three more ribs snap and he clenched his teeth in pain. Just barely seeing Kairi through the red haze of pain obscuring his vision. He saw her slumped in her seat, blood dripping from her mouth.

Sora felt his heart skip a beat before his pulse doubled, new strength flowing into his body. Sora heard Theresa roar with laughter and he snapped, his rage exploding outward.

Sora rose from his chair, the chains holding him in the chair snapping. He looked at Theresa and saw her stop laughing, before she summoned a keyblade purple as poison. Sora didn't even flinch when she struck out at him, he let her slash his shoulder open. Theresa smiled at him but her smile faded fast, Sora's hand already wrapping around her throat. "I-I'll kill you." Sora looked into Theresa's eyes and released the animal within him, Anti's madness flowing into him. Sora felt his shirt tear and felt his coat fall to the floor, his wings spreading wide behind him.

Uriel broke the chains binding him in place when he felt power surging behind him, within Sora. He heard chains snapping and he heard Theresa sink her keyblade into flesh. He rose to his feet and watched as Sora wrapped his hand around Theresa's throat, his clothes falling to the floor. Uriel blanched when bat-like wings spread wide behind Sora, his skin sickly white. Uriel ran around Sora and watched as Sora chocked the life out of Theresa, his mouth twisted in wicked enjoyment. Uriel looked into Sora's eyes and saw blackness, no soul within the golden eyes. Uriel stepped forward and began pulling Sora's hand from Theresa's throat. 'Strong.' Uriel finally managed to pull Sora's hand away, looking at Theresa. Her throat was purple and her face an ugly blue. She coughed and rubbed at her throat, already trying to speak."Uriel, kill him. He attacked me, kill him."

Sora tried his best to kill Theresa but Uriel removed his hand from her throat, pushing him away easily. He saw Theresa speak but heard nothing, his heart pounding in his ears. He turned around and looked at Kairi, her body still slumped. Sora reached out and broke the chains restraining her, pulled her into his arms and stepped away, motioning for Riku to join him. Riku shrugged and broke the chains binding him, helping Zack from his own chair.

Sora turned back to Uriel and Theresa, both whispering frantically. Sora took a step forward but the door to the small room they were in banged open, three people walking in. One was a man with greying hair and the other two young woman, one in her late teens and the other no more than sixteen teens. All three widened their eyes when they saw the situation in the room, the two girls drew their keyblades while the old man merely frowned, arms held behind his back. "This is strange. Uriel, you never disobey and you, Theresa, never fail your task. And yet Uriel is clearly on his feet, not in chains, with Theresa failing to keep the prisoners in their chairs. I would have expected more from my old Students, and yet it saddens me to see the two greatest candidates of their year fail so."

Both Uriel and Theresa fell to their knees, heads bowed while Sora watched in rage. "Uriel, you were ordered to find us? And ordered to be tortured with us? Pathetic, Master Yen Sid spoke most highly of you." Sora's voice was more of a snarl than anything else, so filled with cruelty Kairi stirred in her sleep. Sora turned his golden eyes to the old man. "And now some old man tells you that you failed in your mission. Who is he? Your Master, your father?" The old man turned his dark eyes towards Sora and Sora felt the power in the man's eyes push him down, but instead of backing down Sora walked forward, ivory claws ready to rend the flesh from his bones. "I am Barst, and these are Yaela," the younger girl nodded, "and Ivy." The older girl didn't even nod, she just stood there with her keyblade pointed at Sora's chest. "And I was Uriel's Master, but that has long since passed, now I train these two beauties in the finer styles. Dancing, mastering their keyblades and of course their fighting style. And if you do not move away you will see just how far they have proceeded in their training."

Sora backed away, letting go of the bloodlust and hate that clawed at his heart. His wings drew back into his shoulders and his skin once more regained its colour. He set Kairi down and crouched beside her, Ultima in his hand. "Why have we been imprisoned? And why is it that Theresa tortured us?" Sora healed Kairi and stepped away, pulling his coat over his shoulders. As he moved Barst eyed his keyblade, watching it as if in anticipation. "What? Stop staring. It's just a keyblade, you see them a lot." Sora stood up and dismissed Ultima, Riku beside him with Kairi rising to her feet. "Zack, please check on Kairi, and keep Theresa away from me, I think I'll kill her without wanting to if I see her again."

Riku eyed Sora and felt the tension dripping from him, stressing him out. 'He's gonna end up doing something he's going to regret.' Riku pulled Sora away and took his place, Zack behind him. Riku narrowed his eyes when Ivy twitched, Darkness pooling below him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You see, _he_ doesn't like people." Riku looked down and saw his shadow stir, the Guardian eyeing everyone in the room. "Fact is, I don't either. Especially people who want me dead." Riku closed his left hand and pushed the Darkness away, the Guardian fading back into his shadow. "Now like Sora asked, why did you imprison us?" Barst moved forward and Riku raised his right hand, Way to the Dawn forming in his hand. "Not one step closer." Barst stepped away and raised his right hand from behind his back, Light shining in his palm. "I merely wished to heal that poor girl. Theresa has always been a little bit rough."

Sora looked down at the case Cissnei had given him and sighed, not knowing what he should do. Ivy was sitting beside him, probably ordered to keep him out of trouble. "We do have a training ground. You just have to ask." Sora looked up at Ivy and did nothing, not even believing she had spoken. "Now you're talking? Bored with playing mute?" Ivy shrugged and looked at him, her strange blue eyes sparkling with amusement. "No, I just found no reason to speak before. What difference would it have made except make you angrier?"

Sora looked at Ivy and knew she was right, her wisdom of not speaking making sense. "I wish I had your patience. If I was you I would have attacked." Ivy smiled slightly and fingered the table she and Sora were sharing, her face empty of all emotion while her blue eyes the colour of the noon-day sky twinkling with amusement. "So Ivy. Can you take me to the training grounds?" Ivy smiled and rose to her feet, already walking. "Yes I can. Hurry up, I'm not supposed to let you do anything."

Sora ran through the corridor, Ivy running silently beside him. He had found it strange that she had insisted they take the longer route, now he could see that she was enjoying the run, her eyes half closed and her stride long and filled with grace. Sora upped the speed and overtook Ivy, smiling as he did. He looked back and saw nothing, when he looked forward he saw Ivy ahead of him, her long white-blond hair streaming behind her. "Tut tut. If you want to race you should tell me, I might just stretch my legs." Ivy smiled again and lengthened her stride, barely touching the ground as she almost flew over the stone hallway. Sora pumped his legs harder and went faster, faster, faster. But he never came close to Ivy, only catching her when she stopped in front of a plain stone door, sitting on the windowsill. Her face was composed, her breathing steady, like she'd been sitting there for the past hour.

Sora opened the case Cissnei had given him and pulled the two objects wrapped in plain cloth from the case, already feeling anxious. He took the cloth from one of the objects and fingered the barrel, the insignia adoring the hilt. Ivy sat down on the table in front of him and took the other bundle from his hands, unwrapped it and cocked it, the dull click emitting from the firing cap forcing a smile onto Sora's face. Sora went through the case and realised it contained much more than he thought possible, at least three times more than should have been possible. He heard the crinkling of paper and pulled a sheet of paper from the lid, from a small pouch attached to the handle. He pulled the paper from the small pouch and unfurled it, eyes seeing the words.

Blessed be to thine who hath chosen to wield us.

We are Misery and Rebellion.

If your aim is just and true thine shall find it difficult to miss thine mark.

Wield us with honour and dignity.

Sora folded the piece of paper and tucked it back into the pouch, eying the black steel of the dual guns Cissnei had given him.

Sora took one of the ebony guns in his hands and saw the name written in silver on the side of the barrel, Misery. The barrel was covered in leaf shaped patterns, the handle having a leaf with a thorn piercing its middle adorning it. He looked at the gun and saw that the barrel was different to Rebellion, the casing once fired ejected from the left side instead of the right as the norm. Sora ejected the mag and saw that it was empty, when he chambered a round he heard a hollow click but nothing happened, assuring him it was empty. He looked at a package inside the case and took it from the case, opened it and took some of the bullets inside. He loaded Misery's mag and put it back into Misery, chambering a round as he did. He saw Ivy do the same, with much more confidence that he himself had, telling him she had handled guns before.

Sora took aim at the target he'd set up and squeezed the trigger, the gun shook and he felt the recoil, which was much heavier than he'd expected. He saw the hole the slug made in the target and frowned, the hole farther away from the bulls-eye than he would have liked. He took aim again but saw Ivy stare at him, waiting patiently for him to notice her. He looked at her and she smiled, motioning toward the target. "May I?" Sora nodded and stepped back, waiting for Ivy to take aim. He heard a continuous bang and he blinked, eyes fixed on the target. Twelve holes had been blow into the target Sora had set up, all in some way touching the bulls-eye.

Sora watched Ivy eye Rebellion and saw her look toward the case between them, looking at it with desire. "Go ahead. Indulge yourself." Ivy nodded and went through the case, pulled six objects from the case and fiddled with Rebellion, in a few seconds the barrel was in one hand and the rest of Rebellion in her other. She reached for one of the six objects and twisted it, fitting the new barrel into place. "There, that ought to take care of that noise and some of the recoil. Try." Sora took Rebellion from Ivy and took aim, squeezed the trigger and smiled. The recoil was much less and much lower, more in the but of the gun than the barrel while only a dull hiss was heard. "Oh yeah. Thanks." Sora saw Ivy tweak Misery in the same way before she handed it to him.

Sora looked at Misery and Rebellion in his hands and saw how they were meant to be used, not separate but as one. He ejected both mags and laid Misery and Rebellion on the table, barrels parallel to each other. He quickly took four mags from inside the case and filled them with bullets, he took the two he'd taken from Misery and Rebellion and reloaded them. He stuck his hand into the case and pulled two objects wrapped in cloth from its depth, unwrapped them and examined them closely. Two holsters, built to house two very specific guns, specifically Misery and Rebellion. He fixed the holsters to his waist, and stretched, feeling no discomfort he holstered Rebellion on his right with Misery on his left. He put the six mags he was going to use and stuck them on the table, standing up so he wouldn't have any trouble switching mags.

Sora closed his eyes and pulled his coat from his shoulders, the thin black shirt he wore to replace the one he'd torn using Divine Drive tight against his chest. He took a deep breath and reacted, hands whirling to his back and ripped the ebony guns from their holsters, swinging them around and slamming them into the table, mags stuck into the slot. He chambered a round in each gun and squeezed the triggers, his mind empty of everything except his objective: Fire.

Sora unleashed hell on the targets he's put up, tungsten slugs ripping holes in the fabric. In less than two seconds the mags were empty, Sora ejected both and inserted the next, running through them just as fast. When he was done the targets were barely hanging on, falling apart at the seams. Sora smiled and holstered Misery and Rebellion once more, looking at the mags he'd used so quickly. "Awesome."

Ivy watched Sora as he played around, her own experience guiding her hand as she contemplated what the boy before her could do for her in the long run. She saw the pure joy in his eyes and felt a smile form on her face, even considering helping him further. "Sora, may I see?" When the boy smiled Ivy nodded her head, her concentration on...other things. She quickly and expertly loaded all the mags Sora had used and looked at the targets she could devastate, she saw a log on the other side of the room, probably someone else's target. She took aim with her mind and focused on her target, already guiding her hands into the right position. She drew in a breath and closed her eyes, summoning forth her singular power. She opened her eyes and felt her cat like eyes focus on the log, her slit pupils taking in details her human eyes could not. She squeezed the triggers and saw with fascination as the bullet buried itself in the wood, barely chipping the dense fibres of the wood.

Ivy squeezed the triggers again and kept squeezing them, the mags falling to the table every odd second or two. When she was done she exhaled and put the dual guns on safety, reloading the mags in less than a minute. "Thank you. We should return. My Master approaches this place." Sora looked horrified but did nothing, just watching Ivy.

Ivy packed away all the equipment the dual guns needed and threw the case into Sora's arms, her eyes already back to normal. She threw open the door and pulled Sora with her, running as soon as she could. Sora followed behind her, having no trouble keeping up with her this time.

Sora ran beside Ivy, his eyes on the corridor in front of him. The excitement the situation he was in caused coursed through his veins, releasing all the power he had so long worked to keep sealed away. He kept pace with Ivy easily, even overtook her in the first couple strides. But she lengthened her stride and ran beside him, guiding him as to where he should go. When Ivy looked at him his excitement bubbled over into a laugh, and Ivy joined him in his fun. They turned the corridor and saw someone approach, blond hair flying behind her. Ivy sighed a name."Yaela." Sora skid to a halt in front of Yaela and prepared himself, but Yaela shook her head and took his hand, leading him the way they'd come from. "He's coming. Ivy you idiot, I told you to make sure you have a way to leave Barst behind you. But no, you just had to take the one bloody corridor with a window too high for him to get through." During the time Yaela was talking to Ivy she led Sora down the corridor again, looking up at the windows she though he couldn't get to.

At the end of the corridor Sora finally got serious, his laughter fading away. He pulled Yaela to a stop and looked up at the window above him. The highest window in the whole corridor. "So you're saying we can get away from Barst through the window?" Yaela nodded and Ivy giggled, and Sora saw the resemblance between the two, both sharing the blond hair and huge eyes. "Alright then. Why didn't you say so?" Yaela frowned at him strangely."You can jump that high?" Sora shook his head and Yaela sighed, her shoulders slumping.

Sora clucked his tongue and both Yaela and Ivy looked at him, the both of them probably thinking he was useless. "I can't jump that high," Sora opened the door to the demon within and he took off his shirt and coat, handing them to Yaela and handing his guns to Ivy along with the case he clutched in his hand. "But I can fly." Sora released the river of power within him and he saw the bandages form, the Japanese pants replacing his. His bat-like wings burst from his shoulders and his ivory claws appeared. He dismissed the claws and grabbed both Ivy and Yaela around the waist, the two sisters shrieking as his wings started to beat the air. "Hold on!" Sora kicked off from the floor and saw himself fly up and up and up...just to fall back to earth, the added weight keeping him on the ground. Yaela and Ivy half expected him to let them go but he just closed his eyes, throwing himself into the river of madness.

Sora opened his eyes and felt them burn, something covering his eyes. He screamed in pain and heard a hollow echo within his voice, something covering his face. He shook his head and felt the ivory mask settle against his skin, his eyes still burning. He looked at both Ivy and Yaela before he looked up, new strength coursing through him like poison. Sora beat his wings and he flew up and out the window, easily carrying both Yaela and Ivy.

Sora looked down at the ground and stilled his wings, feeling the wind caress his skin and wings. He felt a warm breeze touch his wings and he flared them, letting the warm air carry him higher. He looked at Ivy and saw her look into his eyes, her own blue eyes wide. "Crimson, and a mask. Incredible." Sora nodded his head and looked at Yaela, her own maroon eyes touching his. "But these marks, like tears." Yaela touched his mask and Sora knew that she traced the marks she saw, the corners of his eyes, from his temples and from below his eyes over his mouth. "Yes, Darkness blesses those who have enough strength to reject it." Sora heard his own voice, the hollow echo still within it. Sora saw both Yaela and Ivy had their arms wrapped around his chest, supporting their own weight.

**Review! Please?**


	6. Uriel fights back

**Next Chapter: Uriel fights back**

**Fall like a star from Heaven. Yeah, I don't know why I just said that. Maybe what happens next chapter will explain?**

Sora looked at the ground, the golden citadel he'd been imprisoned in for less than a day. He let both Ivy and Yaela go, neither of which said a word, just looking at the ground along with him. And up in the air they remained, watching the citadel swarm with activity for more than half an hour, or until Sora's guests complained about the cold. He sighed and drew his wings in, falling toward the ground faster than a lead weight. Yaela screamed but Ivy laughed along with him, her eyes wide with euphoria. When Sora felt that he'd smash into the ground if he didn't stop at that very second he flared his wings, clutching Yaela and Ivy to his chest to keep them from falling.

Sora landed with a solid thump inside the citadels main gate and let the two sisters go, his new strength still growing. Sora eyed the four Masters in black who were tasked with guarding the gate and stepped into the shadows, their eyes following every move he made. Yaela and Ivy followed him, both looking for signs of their Master. Ivy sighed and Yaela laughed, her sweet voice filling the open space of the courtyard. Sora clustered his wings around him and felt them descend upon him like a coat, covering his form completely. "We should move. I hear people coming." Ivy and Yaela both nodded and headed for a door hidden by vines, opened it and headed inside.

Sora, curious, followed them and found that he was in a crumbling corridor, the tiles cracked and worn down. 'Secret passageway. Reminds of Harry Potter but I don't care anymore, I just wanna get back to Kairi and pass out...or something. We never did finish that kiss we started back at Yen Sid's.' Sora mentally shook himself and walked into the blackness, not even lighting his way. He walked up to Yaela as she stood at the edge of a gorge, a river flowing below them. She looked down and smiled. "The reason no one uses this anymore. Our drinking water kinda screwed us. Great place for a party though. The Masters never check here to see if a party's goin' on, no matter how loud we get." Sora saw Yaela hesitate before she leaped, slipped on the stone and fell on her face. She fell into the canyon dividing the two parts of the path and grabbed hold of a jagged piece of stone jutting out the side, just barely grabbing hold. "Ohh no." Sora leaped the distance and grabbed Yaela's shirt, hauled her up with help from his wings and set her down, gently. "That looked like it hurt. You okay?" Yaela nodded but Sora knew she was lying, her shoulders too slumped and her hands too shaky. "Heal." Sora barely mouthed the words but the green glow enveloped Yaela, her shoulders growing rigid.

Sora followed Yaela and stepped into a blackened room, the only illumination coming from the faint glow that came from the tunnel he's just came through. Ivy was crouched in front of him, looking down at something. Sora fell to his hands and knees and joined her, looking down. To his amazement he was looking down at a room, the room he'd first arrived in to be precise. Riku and Kairi sat at a table, alone, looking around the room in boredom. Sora watched Ivy inch forward even more, barely balancing on the jagged edge beneath her. She snorted softly and came back up, looking at Sora with slit pupils. "Yaela, _kverst du sundav._" Sora looked at Ivy strangely but Yaela inched forward, eyes closed. Sora watched her open her eyes and felt his body jerk, surprise making him snarl. Where Yaela's eyes had been a warm maroon before her eyes were now black, the whites completely consumed with red while her pupils were indiscernible from the black. Sora backed away from Yaela and saw her move forward with new confidence, looking down into the room. In a second she came back up, her eyes once more normal. "Clear. Let's go. They'll be back in sixty-eight seconds."

Sora watched as Ivy flung herself into open space, looking down with her slit pupils. Yaela followed a second later, her hands held in front of her as if in prayer. Sora shrugged and opened his wings once more, falling through open space as he did. He didn't even slow his fall, he fisted his hand in the air and used his new power to seal the doors, giving them an extra few seconds. Sora landed and immediately walked over to Kairi, crimson eyes wide in worry. He watched Yaela look at the doors and frown, saw her look at him and saw her shake her head mouthing 'no.' Sora nodded and released the influence he had on the door.

Yaela looked at Sora as he made his way over to his lover, already knowing what he'd do in the following fifty-four seconds. She had see him draw away from the beast within him, his form once again resembling a human's. She watched as his form did change, the white mask she found so pretty crumbling away like pottery dropped on the floor. His skin regained its colour and his wings withdrew back into his shoulders, the bandages covering his form receding.

Ivy watched her younger sister work, her eyes changing like hers had changed so long ago, on the eve of her seventh birthday. She saw the warm maroon of her eyes fading away, replaced by what would forever set her apart from everyone else. Her own eyes had shocked everyone, her own parents calling the local priest to exorcise her, to banish the spirit controlling her movements. She remembered so clearly how her parents had cried, watching their daughter scream and beg their forgiveness. And then, the priest. He had done nothing but mumbled a few words in Latin and declared her free, condemning her to burn as a witch when her eyes had remained as they were, like a creature of the night's.

_Ivy watched her parents weep beside the stake, screaming for the priest to show mercy. But the priest never did, always condemned even the most innocent to the stake, believing he did what he must. Nothing worse than someone who thought they were on a holy mission. A sinner could see the error of his ways, beg forgiveness and know he'd done wrong, but a religious zealot could never see the error of his ways, thinking that he was on the right path and the rest were deceived, that he was the one to cleanse the world with fire. But the priest forgot the most important rule when it came to playing with fire: play with fire and you will be burned like any other man, no matter how holy he thought he was. He would burn like the poor soul he'd condemned._

_Ivy looked at the priest, his wide eyes taking in her beauty, most likely how she would look after a good lashing. She smiled and looked at the sky, feeling her eyes change for the second time in her life. When the fire began to heat her skin she did nothing, focusing on the cool night breeze. When the fire did touch her she did nothing still, her eyes beginning to tear from the smoke. Then she felt her flesh burning, her own burning flesh's reek odour making her gag. She opened her mouth and screamed, she screamed for the fool the priest was, she screamed for the Fates, cursing them for the destiny they had chosen for her. She screamed for her own sister, Yaela watching as she burned, her own Maroon eyes a mirror to the raging inferno._

_Ivy looked at her sister and sadness filled her, along with hatred, hatred so foul and heavy it chocked her. Ivy opened her Changed eyes and looked into her sister's, seeing her own eyes begin to change before turning maroon once more. 'No. Not Yaela. I will protect her, from my parents, the mad priest, from death itself. I will protect her!' Ivy closed her eyes tightly and called out to the newly awakened power within her, the power of her eyes. And there it was, waiting for her to let it in. Ivy opened her heart and felt the Change settle completely over her._

_Ivy opened her eyes when she felt coolness touch her, when her skin was burning she shuddered in chill. Ivy looked around her and saw the crowd had fallen silent, no longer mourning or screaming for her to die. Instead they looked on in terror, eyes wide in horror. Ivy looked at the priest and saw him fall to his knees, disbelief stamped on his face. Ivy looked at her own body, her slit pupils piercing the shadows around her._

_Ivy felt something drip on her cheek and she lifted her hand instinctively and wiped it away, seeing it was blood she realised she had touched her face, when her arms had been bound in thick rope before the execution. Ivy looked up into the sky and saw a great head, shining white eyes locked on her. Ivy staggered back but the head moved with her, as if it was attached to her. Ivy looked around her and saw she was standing in the centre of what looked like a rib cage, the ribs on her sides with the spine behind her. She walked forward and raised her arms, seeing skeletal arms mirror her movements she looked again at the armoured head, seeing it nod at her. Ivy smiled a smile filled with hatred and knew the head had pledged its allegiance to her._

_Ivy raised her arms and the skeletal arm mirrored her movement, the big hand closing around the priest. The priest begged for mercy, but like he himself had done to her Ivy smiled and shook her head, before slamming his body into a building. Ivy continued her assault, the men of her village hacking at her with swords and axes, throwing her with daggers and spears, shooting her with arrows and crossbow bolts. She laughed and saw not one of the weapons reach her, her protector becoming more whole, muscle covering his skeletal form. Ivy looked at the priest again and felt her hatred spike again, almost blinding her with its intensity. Her protector roared into the sky and skin covered his form, armour following shortly after. "Emotion makes you stronger." Ivy spoke upward, her protector nodding before sweeping men from their feet, acting on its own._

_When Ivy had made sure the priest would never hurt anyone again, not killing him, she ran, Yaela beside her. She had run to her home, threw all her belongings and Yaela's into sacks with food enough for a few days, and left. She ran, her hatred turning into fear, her protector changing because of it. Instead of the enormous shields he had bore when Ivy had struck out his form had once again become skeletal, noting but bones left._

_Ivy and Yaela had ran, with little to no rest for days, travelling night and day to get as far away from their village as they could, until they could go no further. Uriel had found them then, his trademark white armour missing, his eyes filled with worry as he found them, sleeping in a cave. From the second Ivy had seen him she trusted Uriel, his eyes always filled with kindness when he regarded her. She had gone with him to the Haven his Master had chosen, where both she and Yaela had been gifted with keyblades and taken in for care._

Ivy shook herself and returned to the present, her long forgotten hatred once again filling her heart. She looked up and saw her protector appear, barely a glint of white eyes above her. Like he always did when she felt any great emotion, though hatred seemed to make him appear more easily, making him more complete. Ivy reigned in her emotions and saw the door to the great hall open, her Master with many others striding in with keyblades drawn, their faces serious. Ivy knew that look, the look without rage or sadness. It was a look an old taker of lives had about them, a look she had often been accused of having. Ivy saw Yaela rise to her feet, keyblade clutched in her hand, her eyes fully Changed. Ivy herself stood up and drew her keyblade, her own eyes Changing. She stood beside Yaela and drew her keyblade away, leaving Yaela to stare at her. Ivy envisioned herself explaining to Yaela without interruption why she should do nothing, knowing Yaela would see what she imagined as it had been her consideration for saying in the future, the immediate future. Yaela nodded slightly and stepped aside, her eyes still fully Changed. Ivy herself stepped away, her own eyes locking on her own ability, to target anything she'd ever see without fail, with perfect detail. The ability she used was one of her most basic, just like Yaela's ability to see the next sixty-eight seconds was her most basic ability. But Ivy's power was far more developed than Yaela's, able to focus on one single object while Yaela was forced to see every possible future, of which there were hundreds if not thousands.

Sora watched the Warriors walk towards them, his keyblade already in his hand. He watched them continue down the path they'd chosen, most all of them with keyblades. When they were ten feet away they all stopped, Master Barst stepping forward. "We have found evidence that you left this room. And that, I fear, was a mistake. Yaela, Ivy, I told you to keep them contained within this room! I told you so because I had the most confidence in the both of you, your various abilities serving well in this mission. And yet you fail, just as Theresa and Uriel have failed. And you both know the punishment for failure."

Sora looked to the side and saw both Yaela and Ivy flinch, their previous friendliness gone. Their eyes were empty, both their normal light blue and maroon. "Yes Master." They spoke as one, their voices empty of all emotion. He stepped forward but Ivy glared at him, and he stepped back once more, his head lowered. "Take them." Barst spoke seriously but Sora heard a certain guilt in his voice, as if he regretted what he had just said. But Ivy and Yaela walked with the four warriors garbed in black from the room, both looking grim. Sora raised his head and saw Ivy once more look at him, her eyes shining while her face was still blank. 'I'm sorry.' Sora mouthed the words but he knew Ivy would understand. Her face softened and she nodded slightly, her eyes hardening once more as she looked away.

The door banged shut and Sora raised his head, two warriors standing on either side of Barst. "My boy, why do you resist so? Why cannot you follow a simple command, to do as I told you? If you had, neither Ivy nor Yaela would need to be punished." Sora lowered his head once more and remained silent, his mind on other things. "Did you hear me, boy?" Sora raised his head and glared, Barst the unfortunate soul of his death glare. "My name is Sora. And I do not follow orders. If you had asked me I may have listened, but being ordered? You're dealing with the wrong person if you want your orders followed. Oh and, Uriel didn't disobey, he protected Theresa." Sora lowered his head once more and heard Barst tap his foot. "Is that so? And from what, pray tell?" Sora raised his head and looked into Barst's eyes, seeing the humour shine in their dark depths. "From me. I would have killed her if he wasn't there." Sora shrugged and settled back against the stone chair he'd been flung into, the chains once more tightening around his chest.

Sora closed his fist and looked at the chains wrapped around his chest and did what Barst told him, to break them. He concentrated and drew upon his power, the chains digging painfully into his flesh. When Sora heard his recently healed ribs break once more he tried harder, not willing to show his Heartless power yet. "Sir, the girl isn't talking. Shall I collect the irons?" Sora raised his head and saw the Master he'd seen drag Kairi away stand beside Barst, blood dripping from his naked forearms. "Yes, do what you wish. This boy isn't going anywhere. He can't even break the chains, he won't be able to save his young love from pain." Barst spoke quietly to the other Master, his voice muffled but Sora heard every word he said.

Sora clenched his teeth against the pain and strained against the chains, some beginning to crack. But when he heard a scream rent the air he stopped, his blood running cold with dread. "Kairi!" Sora felt rage claw at him, begging him for release. 'Fine, but give me control. I don't want to kill them, just hurt them enough to leave us alone.' Sora felt Anti considering his words and felt his will faltering, allowing Sora control. Sora smiled and threw open the door to the cage within him, his Heartless power once again making itself known. 'Sora, I wanna help too!' Sora nodded his head and felt Roxas join Anti, giving him their joined might, Heartless and Nobody working as one.

Sora felt the hatred touch him once more, his wings ripping his coat to shreds. Sora rose to his feet and the chains fell to the ground, his coat and shirt falling away, revealing white skin and bandages. Sora clenched his teeth and delved himself into the madness, the mask forming once more. But it was more this time, more than just an overwhelming sense of power and hate, cold reasoning and control foremost on his mind, and those two powers made all the difference, gave him the will to wretch control from his Heartless.

Sora opened his mouth and screamed, the hollow echo sounding eerie within the small room. Sora spread his arms wide and saw the ivory claws fall away, his skin becoming black up to his shoulder, where the blackness reached up and touched his back. He looked down and saw the marks that covered his mask spread over his chest, forming a shattered heart in the middle of his chest. Sora looked at Barst and his four fellow Masters, all five wide-eyes and staring.

Sora delved himself into his instincts, his Heartless instincts and tempered them with the clear mind of a Nobody. He placed his hands together and a red sphere formed between his palms. Sora stuck his palms out and the sphere fractured, bathing the five men in its path with red light. Sora shot forward, his wings spread wide behind him. He flew through the long corridor and smashed down every door he found, until he found Riku and Zack, both already winning the fights they'd started. Sora continued on his path of destruction, wounding every keyblade wielder he found, or at least everyone who tried to kill him. On his second last try Sora finally found Kairi, with five men crowding around her, every one of them having a red hot poker in their hands.

Kairi screamed again, her voice already raw from all the screaming she'd done. The man burned her again, blood and tears running down her face as she screamed. In between screams of anger she yelled at the men, swearing that she'd kill them all. They laughed at her but the single time Kairi did break free from their grasp they'd rushed to restrain her, but not before she'd used her Shadow Hand to rip out one man's heart, crushing it between her fingers as they watched in horror. Instead of the man fading away as he should have his body was consumed with Darkness, a single Heartless and a single Nobody appearing. The men had quickly destroyed both the Heartless and the Nobody but they were much more careful after that, chaining Kairi instead of just holding her still with their sheer weight.

When Sora crashed through the door Kairi screamed, both in joy and pain, as one of the men had just branded her with a poker. Before Kairi could blink the man was gone, only to appear in Sora's hands. Sora looked at the man and opened his mouth, his mask moving with him. For a second Kairi expected Sora to bite the man, but he just screamed an echoing scream before he ripped the man's arms from his body, leaving him running around, his blood squirting from his mangled stumps. To put him out of his misery Sora grabbed the man's head in one of his blackened hands and applied the pressure, the man's skull cracking long before blood appeared.

Sora looked down at what he was doing, the man's skull slowly breaking as he squeezed, but he didn't stop, not until the man stopped screaming, which was quite some time indeed. Sora tossed the man aside and grabbed the next, grabbed his neck in one hand and his leg in another and pulled, the man's skin tearing soon after his spine shattered. Sora tossed the man aside and impaled the next with both hands, pulling the man in half as he screamed. The man's heart was still beating when Sora looked into his chest, his ribs ripped from his body. He grabbed the man's heart and crushed it, ending his life.

Sora looked at the next man and saw that he had prepared himself, keyblade in one hand and the red-hot poker in the other. "You just gave me an idea." Sora spoke the words and the man ran forward, swinging both his keyblade and the poker wildly. Sora grabbed the man's keyblade and took it from him, throwing it out the door. Sora looked at the poker the man bore like a sword and plucked it from his hand, so quickly the man didn't even notice. "Let's see how you like it!" Sora rushed forward and embraced the man, the poker inches from the man's skin. "Burn." Sora whispered those words and pushed the poker forward, the red hot steel going into the man's gut with ease. When Sora felt the poker cool he frowned and used firaga indirectly to heat it up again, boiling the man alive from the inside out. Sora let go of the man and shoved him out the door, seeing the man pull the poker from his gut, his boiling blood burning his fingers.

Sora turned to the last remaining man and realised he was already dead, his own keyblade shoved through his heart. Sora turned to the last remaining person in the room and crouched beside her, her tears still flowing. "Kairi, shhh, I'm here. It's alright, I got you. I got you." Sora rose to his feet and guided Kairi's head to his shoulder, shielding her from the violence he'd so easily done without regret or hesitation.

Sora walked through the corridors, looking for Riku and Zack. He didn't call out to them, he knew it would only call the Masters and Students to him, forcing him to kill again. He looked back and saw the man he'd boiled alive still running around, his eyes burned away, boiling blood pouring from his body. He looked away, the cruelty he'd shown sickening him. He continued walking, avoiding everyone and everything.

Sora walked into sunlight, Kairi still crying into his chest, her wounds healed and fading, leaving nothing but memory behind, memory Sora knew would haunt her for days, months even. He blinked in the sunlight and saw dozens upon dozens of keyblade wielders standing silently in the sunlight, their keyblades raised and prepared to spill more blood. He set Kairi down behind a rock, not wanting her to see him fight. "I love you. Kairi, thank you. I'll be right back, I just need to take care of something." Sora rose to his feet and raised his wings behind him, blackened arms raised in preparation. He walked forward and again saw row upon row of keyblade wielders look at him, some in disgust, some in awe, some in fear and all in preparation to end his life.

Sora screamed into the sky, his voice loud and deep, the hollow sound replaced by an almost animalistic roar. He roared again and heard someone walk up to him, their footsteps heavy and sure. Sora looked to his side as Zack and Riku joined him, both having their weapons in their hands. Zack looked at him and nodded. "Time to end this fight." Sora shuddered, a memory clawing at his mind.

When the time draws near

And the moon is ablaze with blood

Lady of Light

Lord of Darkness

Hand in hand they pass through the Door

To fight and defend

Those who are dead and dying

Death awaits those who fight

Life awaits those who keep the peace

Sora looked up into the sky, the sun setting at last. He watched the moon rise and saw the barest trace of red touch her silver surface. "The prophecy is fulfilled. Two lines of the poem is happening. _When the time draws near, And the moon is ablaze with blood._" Sora stepped forward, his Heartless and his Nobody pouring all their strength into him. "Now to finish this prophecy. Let's end this!" Sora roared once again and ran forward, Zack screaming with him, Misogi's blade awash in fresh blood. Riku jumped, blasts of Dawn killing multiple enemies farther to the back. He landed in their midst and beheaded four men, their headless bodies falling to the ground a second after their heads.

Sora threw another red sphere into the crowd, killing more than his fair share. He plunged his hand into a man's chest and crushed his heart, ripping the arms off another. He lashed out, again and again, his arms awash in fresh blood.

Zack swung Misogi again and again, the blade humming in sick delight as men met their end to its edge. Zack used materia he had declared for himself forbidden, but now he cared little, only caring to survive. "Darkness!" A black and red shroud snaked from Zack, bringing all the men around him to their knees, pale as death. He felt his own death come closer, the defect from using something like Darkness. "Hell Thundaga!" Blue lightning shot from his fingertips and many of those in its path dropped dead, their bodies unharmed. "Quake!" A tremor radiated from Zack and everyone around him fell, some breaking bones but none dead. He stopped with the materia and swung Misogi once more, the edge already dark with dried blood.

Riku swung Way to the Dawn again and again, a Warrior falling with each swing. When he grew tired of such slow progress he called the Guardian, his strength draining away. The Guardian slaughtered many Warriors before it faded away, its bloodlust satisfied. Riku fell back on his tried and tested techniques, ones that had barely changed the last three years. Except for one thing, they were no longer from the Darkness, but from the Dawn. "Aura sphere!" Multiple burst of Dawn shot from Riku's palm, knocking down a couple men. Riku killed another three men and used another aura sphere, killing four.

Sora killed another man, his spine clutched in Sora's hand and proceeded to the next, barely putting any effort into his kills. He mostly beheaded them or broke their necks, often crushing their hearts. When the battlefield was at last clear of all enemies Sora relaxed, looking at the soldiers he'd killed, making sure they were all dead. He nodded when he was certain they were all dead and headed over to Zack, who looked pale and in pain. He shook his head when Sora asked him what was wrong, just sheathed Misogi and went to check the dead. Sora walked over to Riku and shook his head, the sheer number of deaths dragging him down. "This is too much." Riku shook his head and pointed to the other side of the battlefield, where seven figures stood. Sora looked at them and realised they all wore armour, full armour, not an inch of skin visible. "The Elders. So they decided to fight us themselves." Sora looked at the dead beneath his feet and closed his eyes, his crimson eyes suddenly filled with regret. "All these Students for nothing. They could have stopped them but they did nothing." Sora raised his head and screamed, his voice deep with sorrow and hatred.

Uriel looked out the window of his small cell and watched Sora, Riku and Zack fight, his eyes half-lidded with concern. "What are they doing? Killing the Students like that. The Students are weak, worthless, meant to wear down a strong opponent so the Masters could annihilate the threat without fear of dying. And yet their slugging it out with their full power, actually thinking the Students are a threat." Uriel looked away from the window and looked at Theresa in the cell beside him, her eyes following the battle as he had done mere seconds before. "They will die. They have wasted far too much power to stand a chance against the Masters. Unless they're all stronger than you Uriel, but that chance is slim, one in a million if their lucky."

Uriel looked at the cell opposite his, where Yaela was chained to the wall, her eyes focused on the future. Uriel turned his eyes to the cell opposite Theresa, Ivy's eyes also focused on what was happening outside. "Yaela, _draumr abr wyrda._" From what Uriel could recall Ivy had two ways to help Yaela focus, one was to guide her with her own power and the other to help Yaela focus on a specific future. One sentence Uriel was familiar with was ', _kverst du sundav_' or 'cut the shadows.' Meaning to eliminate all the possible futures a random event could cause, simply focusing on a time and a place. Another Uriel was familiar with was the one Ivy had just spoke, '_draumr abr wyrda_' or 'dream of fate.' Dream of Fate was specific to a vision Ivy herself was seeing, whether it was a future of a place, a person or anything else. If Yaela knew what to look for she will always be correct, only one or two futures possible.

Uriel heard a roar from outside and looked outside once more, seeing the dense power Sora was radiating. Yaela gasped and Uriel looked back toward her, into her hope filled eyes. He looked toward Ivy and saw her nod, a grin of sweet anticipation on her beautiful face. Uriel opened his mouth to speak but a sudden burn closed his airway, his right arm ablaze. He clenched his teeth and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm and looked at the six black seals, two aglow with golden light. He looked at the first seal he'd ever carved into his flesh open, his power releasing once more. He looked at the seal open and thought back on when he had first sealed away his power, mere seconds after he received his keyblade.

_Uriel looked at the weapon in his hand and dropped it, the memories imbedded in the blade surging through him. He bared his right arm and raised his left in panic, the five tiered seal ablaze in his hand. He burned the seal into his arm and dismissed the keyblade, his eyes half closed in pain. He looked at his arm and saw the circular seal, the golden mark fading into blackness. He rolled down the sleeve of his shirt and did what he knew he must, he ran back to his village and told his parents what happened._

_Uriel looked at his parents in horror, the sword his father bore aimed at his throat. He screamed and begged but his father didn't stop, insisting he had to die to be purified. When the blade touched his skin Uriel reacted, his hand wrapping around his father's throat, breaking his neck swiftly. He looked at his mother and saw her run, screaming for help. Within seconds dozens of men ran into the large room, weapons raised. Most screamed in rage when they saw it was Uriel, the boy they all hated for the simple reason to hate clutching at their close friend's dead body. They attacked and Uriel ran, not even defending himself. Before he reached the border of his village there was a flash of Light, a warrior garbed in green armour before him._

_Uriel watched as the warrior reached toward him, the man's keyblade held at his side. Instead of meeting his end as Uriel expected the man drew him closer, the man protecting him from the mob his village had become. The man struck out again and again, more and more blood dripping on the ground of Uriel's home. When all were dead the man reached once more for Uriel, a Corridor of Light forming beneath him._

_Uriel ran through the citadel of the latest Haven, his power surging forth once more. When he reached the comfort of his room he collapsed to the floor and pulled the sleeve from his right arm, the three seals already glowing golden. He lifted his left hand and branded himself once more, the eight diagonal seal forming on his wrist. He sighed in relief and sank to the floor, the new seal leaving him weak and dizzy._

_Uriel walked through the Corridor and into radiant sunlight, the Seven before him. He watched the Elders as they drew their keyblades, his rebellion their main concern. For Uriel had once more disobeyed, the fifth seal already marring his arm. When he had first appeared at the latest Haven the Elders had ordered he show them his keyblade, which he had refused. The Elders had summoned Barst and told him to kill Uriel, when Barst refused, saying he could never kill Uriel the Elders had imprisoned him. And now Uriel stood before him, his evident doom approaching. He rushed forward, his hands still empty of a keyblade. He reached the first Elder and smashed his shoulder into his chest, throwing the Elder hundreds of feet before the man came to a skidding halt._

_Uriel stood once more, his blood pooled below him and ran into the seven Elders once more, weary as they were weary, his body wounded as they were wounded. He had soon discovered that even with five seals suppressing his power he was more than a match for six Elders, the seventh making all the difference._

_And so he fell, body too weak to even try to summon a keyblade, the seven Elders victorious in their quest to end him. But he never died, the seals weakening as his life came to an end, sustaining him as he healed. And he returned two days later, finding the Seven still weak and weary from their battle. He forced them to accept him, to make him a Master, and they did._

_Uriel heard tell from the Seven that they had found two beings with power they had declared forbidden long ago, that they were sending a team to take care of the problem. Uriel panicked, he knew of the two the Elders spoke, he had been observing them for weeks, helping them in ways they never knew, bringing rain when they were thirsty and sending a Student to assist them with food and clothing when he could. And now the Elders had condemned them to death, two who were so similar to him, their village condemning them to death._

_Uriel ran up to the roof of the citadel and opened a Corridor of Light, stepping through and running as soon as he touched the ground. He ran for four minutes before he felt the already familiar presence of the two girls he'd felt so close too. He found them in a cave, the elder trying to keep him away from her sister. He'd reasoned with them, promised them he'd protect them. When the team the Elders had found them Uriel had killed them, not allowing them to even see Ivy and Yaela. When he was done he'd taken them to one of his only friends, Theresa._

_Uriel helped Ivy and Yaela through the Corridor and walked into Theresa's room, Theresa jumping when he spoke. After a quick explanation Theresa gifted both Ivy and Yaela with keyblades, Uriel helping awaken them when she was done._

_Instead of doing what Ivy had expected Uriel took them to his own master, not willing to risk teaching them to fight, as he rarely had to try with anything. But he made a condition with Barst, if he did anything that Uriel found unacceptable Uriel would desert, taking Ivy and Yaela with him. Barst agreed wholly, not even protesting Uriel's terms._

_But the day came when Uriel returned from a mission to find the Haven empty, all trace that it had been inhabited erased. He searched but found no trace, until two days later a haggard Barst had found him, telling him the Elders had forced everyone to leave, restraining him and his Students. And at that Uriel had become enraged, to the point where he had destroyed one of his seals with his pure righteous will. Uriel had traced the Elders without much difficulty with his released power, killed the seventh and forced the others to swear fealty to him. They had agreed and Uriel had left, becoming Rogue, taking Ivy and Yaela with him, helping them become stronger. When he was confident they could handle themselves he returned once more, becoming the unofficial leader, not even trying to lead, just doing what he wanted._

**Review! Please?**


	7. Sisters, fight as one

**Next chapter: Sisters, fight as one.**

**Couldn't decide on a name for this chapter so I decided to emphasise the relationship between Ivy and Yaela, by naming this chapter after them. **

Uriel looked at the seals covering his arms and saw more and more starting to glow golden, his keyblade trying to force itself into his hand. He clenched his teeth and rose to his feet, gripping the bars of the cage he was in so tightly they became bent and disfigured. When four of the six seals were aglow with golden light Uriel felt his keyblade appear, appear for the first time in over twenty years. He gripped the hilt and looked down, taking in the sight of his keyblade anew. "_Infernus Ascensio._" Or Infernal Ascension. The wide golden blade shaped like flames, the white and black blood-like smears marking it apart from all others. In truth, the teeth could barely be described as teeth, more tongues of flame protruding from the edge. The edge itself was strange, flames and waves shaping it, with odd grooves and nicks marring the edge. The guard was a rearing silver wing, the feathers frozen in time. The hilt was pure white, nothing staining the pure colour. The oddest was the keychain, instead of falling below the hilt it was wrapped around the base of the blade, two wings spread wide. One wing was silvery-white, the other blackish-red. The sheer size of the blade was monstrous, more a berserker blade than anything else. The blade was at least six feet, one foot wide and the edge almost an inch wide to inflict as much pain and damage as possible.

Uriel opened his mouth and released all control he had, raw power gushing forth for the first time in over twenty years. His loss of control caused his body to change, age, become more mature. He knew he would continue to age until his body was physically mature, at the age of twenty-one or twenty-six. He closed his eyes and let the change consume him, all his power rushing through his body.

Yaela saw Uriel change, seeing both his immediate future and the present. 'His keyblade is beautiful. Raw and pure, without a flaw.' She watched Uriel age and saw him stand up, both on his hands and knees and already ripping down the wall to help Sora. She shook her head and released her power, her eyes changing to maroon once more. She watched Uriel change anew and she reached out, breaking the bars to the cage containing her. She saw Ivy do the same but Theresa remained in her cage, watching in awe as the most powerful keyblade Master changed to become even more powerful.

Uriel raised his head, his body still changing and stood up, Infernus Ascensio clutched in his hand. He swung his mighty blade and stepped through the destroyed cage, already deciding about helping Sora. But before he did that he needed to reveal what he knew about the past, the true beginning of the World. "There was one power in the beginning, Inferno. And from Inferno the World began, Primal Light and Primal Darkness created. The keyblade Masters were created many millennia after the World began, when Dawn and Twilight had separated from Primal Light and Primal Darkness.

There were four official keyblades in the beginning. Keyblade of Light, Keyblade of Dawn, Keyblade of Twilight and the Keyblade of Darkness. These keyblade were the embodiment of their namesake, each keyblade equal, the very embodiment of peace and balance. They warred often, but never together, always separate. So none ever overwhelmed the others and none ever lost the fight. When their time was short each gave uncounted keyblades to countless people, to take their place and keep the peace.

But there was a fifth, a keyblade more powerful than all others, a keyblade of Inferno. But this keyblade was lost when its wielder died, only reappearing in times of war. And that, is exactly what Infernus Ascensio is, a keyblade of Inferno. The first in over seven centuries."

Uriel sighed and drove Infernus Ascensio into the ground, forcing an unimaginable wave of pressure through the building, making the foundation unstable. He looked at Ivy and Yaela, nodded and then turned his eyes on Theresa, ripping the door of her cage from its hinges. "You're either with us, or with them. And they will die, I will bring an end to the tyranny these Elders have brought, there are many others, others not so corrupt who will accept us. You can come with us, if you wish." Instead of doing what she normally did, which was sulk around before making a decision, Theresa nodded her head and summoned her keyblade, Light pouring from her in waves.

Uriel looked down at the battle below, his eyes seeing what others did not, the amount of power the Elders used compared to what they had used against him. What he saw confused him, the Elders not even using parlour tricks to play around, fighting as hard as they could. "These Rogues really are surprising, forcing the Elders to fight as they are." Theresa stepped in beside him and chuckled, her brow wrinkled as she followed the battle. "Yeah, they are."

Sora looked to his left and saw Riku go down, the Guardian grabbing the Elders keyblade before he could impale Riku. Riku rose to his feet and went back to his fight, battling fiercely against the two Elders, Dawn streaming off him like a rising sun. Sora heard a blade whistle through the air and he skid to the side, the keyblade moving through the place his head had been seconds before. He dodged the second Elders strike and lashed out, sending one Elder flying, leaving the other open for attack.

Sora stretched out his arm and flinched, his shoulder burning, causing the Elder to move out of the way, cutting Sora's bicep open. That cut hadn't been the first, nor would it be the last. Sora felt each wound that marred his body, fighting through the pain. The first wound had been a backhand blow by an Elder, attacking from behind, cutting Sora's right wing to shreds, tearing the thin membrane of skin that made flight possible. The second had been a blow to the head, breaking his mask and cutting his scalp. His mask had fractured from above his left eye to beside his eye, the hole cut into the mask helping the mask break. The shard had fallen, crumbling away, leaving Sora's white skin open for attack. The third blow had been to his mask again, completely destroying the left side and breaking a piece off from the right, his mouth no longer covered.

Sora knew that most of his control came from his mask, his Heartless power kept under control. If his mask broke completely his Drive would end, leaving him completely vulnerable. Sora heard something move behind him and he jumped, his body parallel to the ground, watching a keyblade pass dangerously close to his face. As he was still in the air he turned his head, looking at the Elder who had almost killed him. The man's golden-green armour shone in the light, not a scratch marring the smooth plates.

Sora knew that his power was fading fast, his endurance on the very edge. He decided to give up all his stamina for pure brute strength, hopefully giving him enough time to finish the fight. His power peaked once again, the black material moving down his arm, barely covering his elbows. He felt his wings recede, giving him even more power. He lunged forward and grabbed a Master's arm, pulling. The Master screamed in pain when his arm shattered, keyblade falling from his grasp. Sora grabbed the man's neck in both hands and twisted, the bones snapping. Sora dropped the dead Elder and reached for the next, blocking a slash with his blackened arms, the material covering his flesh holding, leaving him unharmed. Sora pulled his arm back and brought it forward, relying on brute force with his next kill. His fist touched the Elders breastplate, which seemed to bulge outward for a second. Sora's fist moved slightly over the breastplate and the metal gave, Sora's arm going through the man's chest. Sora gripped the Elders shoulder and pushed, the corpse falling off his arm. He sighed and felt Divine Drive lose its power, leaving him weak and weary.

Zack faced the three men before him, Misogi already having tasted their blood. The man he'd injured limped forward, his cut up side leaking blood. Zack leaped forward and brought Misogi's great length and weigh forward, intent on cleaving the man in two. Zack met resistance and he saw the two keyblades blocking him, holding Misogi in place. Zack pushed down but saw the injured Elder rush forward, sinking his keyblade deep into Zack's shoulder. Zack staggered back, Misogi dragging in the dirt. Zack looked at the wound and shook it off, not even caring. He'd been injured four times already, bleeding from three and breathing heavily from another. The Elder he'd slashed to bits had run forward, before Zack had crippled him, and kicked him in the side, breaking at least four ribs. Every time he took a breath it burned, making him think his ribs had splintered and pierced the surrounding muscle and tissue. Another came from an Elder who had taken a risk, running under Misogi as it descended toward his head. The man had rent his keyblade from Zack's right shoulder and down over his chest, ending below his sternum, a shallow but painful cut. The other two had been from the same Elder, in the same move even. The Elder with blue armour had spun on his heel close to Zack, cutting his left bicep and his hip.

Zack dragged Misogi back and healed his wounds, rushing forward as his flesh knitted itself back together, blood still seeping over his skin. He hamstrung the Elder with blue armour and cut him in half, his legs still running a second after he died. He swung Misogi overhead and slammed it into the wounded Elders side, knocking him to the ground. Before Zack could finish him the only Elder he had never touched ran in front of his wounded ally, ramming his shoulder into Zack's gut. Zack wrapped his arm around the Elders chest and squeezed, Misogi far too large to help him. He dropped Misogi and grabbed the Elder, his hand ablaze in light. "Hell Thundaga." The spell devastated the man, his armour melting. The Elder stopped thrashing and was still, a smell of burned flesh coming from his body.

Zack pulled Misogi from the dirt and swung it up over his shoulder, regarding the last Elder with contempt. He walked forward, the Elder dragging himself away, his legs not moving. Zack pitied the poor wretch; he swung Misogi up and over, impaling the man through the chest, killing him instantly. Zack smiled for a second before his legs gave way, exhausted from all he'd gone through.

Riku looked out the corner of his eyes and saw both Zack and Sora on the ground, their fights finished, exhausted from the long day and the many fights they'd been in. 'Two left.' Riku looked at the two Elders before him, one garbed in pure white armour and the other in pure black. Both of them fought with power Riku could only dream of getting, all he could do was dodge their blows, and even those he missed, his skin already covered in shallow cuts. The Guardian had already saved him twice and Riku didn't think he could manage to call upon it again. He deflected a slash to his head and received a cut to his cheek, making him winch. The Elder in black rushed forward, keyblade ablaze with Darkness. Riku doubted he could block the blow, could even dodge it. So he did what his honour told him, 'die with dignity.' Riku covered his own keyblade in Dawn and rushed forward, intent on at least wounding the Elder before he died.

But he would never know how that clash would have ended, Ivy stepping between them, a shadowy shape forming around her. Riku continued with his charge, slamming into the shadow surrounding Ivy, thrown back like he'd ran into a wall of bricks, very hard, very strong bricks. He was thrown back and he watched Ivy scream in hatred, the shadowy form solidifying into an armoured figure, six wings of Darkness spread behind it with a scythe in its hands, a wicked curved edge.

Ivy watched the last fight taking place through Yaela, her eyes focused on her sister's mind. While Uriel was still explaining about the keyblade of Inferno she leaped from the hole in the citadel, her protector already waiting for her, only white eyes and a rib-cage present. Ivy jumped between Riku and the Elder of Darkness, the Elder of Light to her left, both still aiming to maim Riku. Ivy let her long dormant hatred surge, her protector becoming as whole as she'd ever seen him. She grabbed Riku through her protector and held him against her, telling him to keep up.

Ivy turned her eyes toward the Elder of Light and Changed her eyes once more, her pupils blooming forth, moving over her retina's and onto her skin, making her eyes look cut. It was a technique she hated and rarely used, a technique she had only mastered a year previously, almost a decade after she had awoken her eyes. This power was a double-edged sword, it destroyed her just as surely as it destroyed her opponent. Fire burst from her, bathing the Elder in its blood-red inferno. She heard the Elder scream but knew he would not die, her fire far too weak to kill someone as powerful as he. She watched the Elder of Darkness approach and she bid her protector to defend.

Ivy watched her protector reach out, his arm blazing with her fiery power, and grab the Elder, pounding him into the ground beneath them. Her protector brought his scythe to bear and impaled the Elder, only to have it shatter in his hands, the Elder's keyblade blocking the wicked edge. The Elder rose to his feet and jumped back, hanging in the air. The Elder made a triangle with his hands and a faint blue light appeared between his fingers. Before Ivy could wonder what it was the sand beneath her was lifted, sucked into the vortex. 'Black hole.' Ivy moved back, the vortex pulling her upward. Ivy saw Riku slip and fall, his form already moving upward. "No." Ivy grabbed Riku and felt her fear spike, her protector changing once more. Now he had four arms, two with spears and the other with hooks. His wings faded away to be replaced with a Japanese uchiwa. She called upon his help and her protector sank to his knees, his hooks digging into the dirt beneath them. He raised his other two arms and threw the spears, using the vortex to insure a hit. A spear shattered in the air, the vortex ripping it apart, but the other found its mark, piercing the Elder's chest.

Ivy watched the Elder drop his hands and fall, the spear vanishing in a wisp of smoke. Ivy knew the Elder was barely injured, the spear not really existing in the physical plane, rather wounding the Elder's spirit, breaking his will to fight. Ivy watched in dismay as the two Elders rose to their feet, neither injured in any way. She willed her fear to subside, forcing her hatred and rage to take shape. Her protector reared up, his arms melding together to form two, his armoured form strong and impenetrable. A sword and shield formed in his hands, the shield a mirror of reality while the sword was fire made solid. Both were spiritual weapons, the mirror to deflect all attacks without fail and the sword to lull an opponent, bringing them to an end.

The two Elders struck out, their forms ablaze with their power. Ivy willed her protector to defend and he did, his shield held in front of him, the Elders keyblades slamming into the smooth surface, pushing the protector back. Ivy stepped forward, her protector digging his feet into the soil, pushing against the Elders. 'Can't do it. They're too powerful.' Ivy again used her flames, her eyes starting to burn with pain. "Yaela! Help me!" Ivy screamed with her eyes closed tightly, her eyes sore and bleeding. She felt her preternatural flames die, her power overused, leaving her weak. She heard something slam into the ground behind her and she opened her right eye, her eyes having turned back to their normal blue but awash with crimson blood. "Help me sister. I can't win." Yaela nodded to her sister and closed her eyes, her face blanching as she released her own power.

Yaela opened her eyes and regarded what she saw, Ivy half blind and the Elders barely wounded. Her pupils turned white and she saw the future of the Elders, every possible future. She regarded the future and stepped forward, into Ivy's protector. She sank down on the ground and closed her eyes again, preparing to use her third power.

Yaela considered what she knew about her and Ivy's eyes, what their powers actually were. Both of them had three stages, which Yaela affectionately called the basic, partial and full Change. Ivy's eyes were much more focused, much more under control. Her basic power was to focus on anything she had seen before, like a person or Yaela's mind, making it possible to follow Yaela's eyes as she explored the future. Her partial release was her protector, who protected her from the drawback of her final Change. Her final Change was her ability to create cursed fire, which was rumoured to burn for three days and three nights before being extinguished. But using the fire weakened her, made her vision unfocused and made her eyes burn and bleed.

Yaela's power wasn't focused on offence or defence, her power was more based on giving her an advantage. Her basic power was to see sixty-eight seconds into the immediate future, every possible future. Her partial power was to change fate itself, to choose the fate anyone caught in her eyes seven seconds into the future. And in those seven seconds she could determine their next move, every move, making her unbeatable. Her final power was different to the other two, not focused on the future, but on the present. She could influence an event, any event and change it as she saw fit. If she wanted an earthquake in a small area it would happen, if she wanted a bolt of lightning to strike a person on a different world, it would happen. If she suffered a gruesome wound she could will it away, make it merely a bad dream. All reality was an illusion she could change, an illusion only she controlled.

But like Ivy's power damaging her vision for a short while Yaela's power drained her of her strength. If she used her final skill for over a minute she would pass out, not being able to move in any way. If she used her partial for over three minutes she would become paralysed for another six.

Yaela opened her eyes and released her final skill, but only for seven seconds, seven seconds where she also used her initial power, forcing the Elder's to stand where they were. With her final power she created a miniature sun, a sun burning with blue light, but held back with anti-matter, the anti-matter holding the sun's destructive power at bay. She aged the sun billions of years, bringing it to the end of its life. As the sun imploded into a super-nova she brought the anti-matter to bear, making it absorb the dying sun's heat and energy, compressing it into two tiny specks of light, which she moved into the Elder's bodies, shielding them from the outside but not the inside, the anti-matter meeting matter and exploding with the force of a sun's long life, which was great indeed, turning everything within the ball she'd made into nothingness, a vacuum within space.

Yaela watched the layer in space she'd separated from everything burst, the explosion causing it to rupture, the energy the anti-matter contained spilling forth into the world. Yaela used her final power again, breaking the seven second rule she'd set forth, pushing the explosion into a pocket dimension she willed into existence. She heard the faint pop as the pocket dimension collapsed, the energy the anti-matter contained dispersing. She released her final and initial power and fell to her knees, Ivy barely managing to catch her. "It's over. They're dead." Yaela closed her eyes and felt her mind slip into the void, to wander unconsciousness.

Riku watched Yaela kill the two Elders in less than six seconds, only to watch her fall to the ground on the thirty-seventh second. He reached out and Ivy pushed him away, a frown on her face. He looked at Ivy and saw her nod, her eyes still closed. "She's alright. That's good." Ivy sank down to her knees and her protector vanished, Ivy sighing as he dissipated. "It is finished. We can leave, finally."

Sora stood up slowly and walked over to Ivy and Riku, his body still numb with exhaustion. His wounds opened again and blood stained his skin, but he walked forward regardless, clutching his wounded arm. He reached his friends and dropped to his knees, seeing Ivy move her head in his direction with her eyes closed. "Heal." Green light flooded down from above, cloaking Sora and his friends with its warm green light. Sora looked up and saw Kairi standing next to him, the last of the scars she'd received from the torture fading away, leaving her skin smooth and unmarked, a smile on her face. "I guess I missed the fight." Sora chuckled and fell backward, all the stress he'd gone through pushing him down. "Yeah."

Kairi sat down beside Sora and relaxed, eyes half lidded. She leaned into him and kissed him, arms moving behind his neck to pull him even closer. She had just begun to lose herself in the long awaited kiss when they all heard a crash, followed by a dust cloud from the citadel. Kairi froze and even considered ignoring what she knew would cause her a problem when Sora pushed her away, she sighed and pouted, her arms crossed like a spoiled brat. 'Why is it always me? Sure, everyone else can do what they want and get away with it but if I want a kiss the world comes to an end. Selphie saying she'd gonna ask Sora out nothing happens, I smile at Sora and the Islands get destroyed. I hug Sora and he dies. I send him a letter I get kidnapped. Sure, love is blind but it's not supposed to be a blind bomb waiting to explode if I look at Sora.'

Kairi turned around and saw three figures approach, one in definite green armour while the other two were cloaked in black. She waiting for something to happen but when nothing did she rose to her feet and drew her keyblade, deciding to kick fate in the face. 'The world says bite me, I go for the jugular.' Kairi walked forward and sighed, already imagining what she'd do after she took care of the problem. 'I think I'll get a room and lock the door, that way everyone can wait while I enjoy myself with Sora. I don't care if the world is coming to an end, it can wait.' Kairi saw a keyblade appear in each of the figures hands and she started to run, Sora already warning her to not be reckless.

As Kairi ran she willed her coat and bandages away, leaving her Shadow Hand visible for all to see. She ran faster and drew upon her Light, thinking how the figures would like it if they were filled with holes. She ran through the cloud of dust and saw that it was Barst leading the charge, his scalp bleeding with blood staining his otherwise perfect armour. 'I'm gonna enjoy this.' Kairi closed her left hand and drew upon her knowledge of how to use her Light, a ball of dense power forming in her grasp. She threw it forward and it struck one of the black garbed figures, making him stumble and fall. She finally got within striking distance and she swung to the side, driving her keyblade through the standing black garbed figures chest. She struck out with her left hand and pulled the man's heart from his body, breaking it in half. The resulting Heartless and Nobody ran toward the fallen Student, consuming him.

Kairi looked at Barst and stood her ground, both keyblade and Shadow Hand ready to taste his blood. He moved to the left and Kairi mirrored him, circling in an old Mexican standoff, minus the dorky clothes and six-shooters. She saw him dig his foot into the soil and she reacted, jumping directly up, Barst running underneath her. Kairi, almost casually, swung her keyblade down and drove it through Barst's chest, pulling it out a second later. Kairi dropped back to the ground just when Barst fell to his knees, clutching at his chest.

Kairi looked back towards Barst and saw him claw at his armour in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. "Don't worry, you won't die. It broke a rib but your heart and lungs are safe, as are your major veins and arteries."Kairi walked towards Barst and laid her Shadow Hand against his chest, directly over his heart. "Why did you attack us? And don't even try lying to me, you'll be a Heartless and a Nobody faster than you can blink." Kairi drew her sharp nail down Barst's neck, just cutting deep enough to make him bleed. "The Elders. They ordered us to. We didn't have a choice." Kairi dug her nail deeper into his flesh and he flinched. "They said you can't be trusted. That you would destroy us for pleasure. They were right." Kairi shook her head and Barst drew away, only to have Kairi drive her nail deeper into his neck. "No, most everyone in the citadel is still alive. Sora, Zack and Riku only killed the ones who tried to kill us. And they left most of the Students alive, only killing them when they didn't have a choice."

Kairi walked away from Barst, her last words still ringing in her ears. "Leave, and never try to find us. If you do, I'll kill you." Kairi smiled and heard something slam into the ground behind her. She swung around and watched a fireball come toward her, with enough power behind it to kill her easily. "Kairi!" Kairi turned and saw Sora fly toward her, his arm spread toward her with eyes wide. He landed in front of her and spread his arms wide, willing to take the fireball for her."Sora, no!" Kairi moved to knock him out of the way but the fireball was too close, already scorching her clothes.

Sora stood in front of Kairi and felt the fire burn him, not even a second left before it killed him. He closed his eyes and waited, waiting to die for her. And he waited, and waited...and waited still. He opened his eyes and saw a beautiful woman before him, the fireball behind her, smiling at him. "My son...we meet again." Sora stared and the woman reached toward him, touching his cheek with a light touch. "Wha..." Something stirred within Sora and he felt memories surge within him, surging to return what had been lost.

Meeting Vanitas and Ventus, seeing Xavier, meeting Nyx and Erebus, dying...again. But he knew there were still gaps in his memories, things he knew he shouldn't remember, things that he longed for, things he had grown to depend on. And the precious memories he had had with Kairi, gone and forgotten.

Sora looked up at Nyx and smiled, eyes becoming lighter, a mix between sky blue and white. "Hello Nyx. How long has it been? Three days? Four?" Nyx smiled at him and looked behind her, knocking the fireball that would have killed him away with a flick of her wrist. "One actually. But that is a future that never existed, so we never met. At least not really. So let's get on with the introduction." Nyx drew in a deep breath and seemed to become bigger, her beauty becoming even more evident as she started to radiate pure white Light. "I am Nyx, daughter of Chaos, follower of Light. It is a pleasure to meet you Sora, wielder of the keyblade, user of Light. Ahh I don't care what Erebus said, we have met and we are friends." Sora nodded his head and felt memories rise within his mind, how he had mastered Darkness, how he had suffered for Kairi, his intense training with Vanitas. "No wonder I've felt as weak as I have. My body remembers how it felt to fight Vanitas, the power I used."

Nyx looked at Sora and smiled, the pure innocence in his eyes brightening her dreary day. 'I have forgotten how he can brighten a room with his smile, his confidence.' For her it had been over a century since she and Erebus changed Fate and sent Sora and his friends back to their Island with their memories and powers taken. "Yes...times have changed. And yet you still fight, though to prevent a war this time, not to end it. Sora, I believe it is time I returned your power, as well as Riku and Kairi's. It is only right that I return their memory as well. But I do have one small exception, the power of the dragon is not mine to give. It must be received, not taken. And I have no right to give you Inferno, as it is not mine to give. Not even Chaos, with his vast and terrible power can give you Inferno as it is older even than he."

Nyx touched Sora's cheek once more and kissed him on the brow, his power and memory flowing from her into him. Nyx drew away from Sora and moved to the two others she owed. She kissed Riku on the brow and looked down at the Guardian below him, making it as it should be. The Guardian rose up, gold instead of black, wings spread behind it. Its form was lean and gangly, with much less muscle than it had had when it served Ansem-The-Heartless. Nyx drew away and walked over to Kairi, examining the silver skin. "Shadow Hand. A great gift, but a curse as well. I wish you luck mastering it." Nyx drew closer to Kairi, kissing her on the brow before kissing her lips, giving her some of her own power to aid her if she should need it.

Nyx backed away, smiling as she did, gemstone eyes sparkling in joy. "Sora, to you I give the keyblade Dark Nebula, a keyblade of Darkness. It will protect you from its namesake while amplifying your Dark enhancements. Riku, to you I give what Dawn itself has given you, mastery of Dawn. You can now yet again draw power from the Dusk and the Dawn. Kairi, I have already gifted you. But I cannot tell you what I gave, you must discover it on your own. And to the three of you I say this, fight true, fight hard and never give up." Nyx closed her eyes and smiled once more before she stepped back, her body fading away. "Farewell my friends."

Sora watched Nyx fade away, leaving behind three silent teens, one unconscious girl and an almost blind woman, awesome combination. Sora stepped back and felt his forgotten power flow though him once more, his wounds healing within seconds. He took a deep breath and turned back to Ivy and Yaela, a word of healing already falling from his lips. A bright green light flooded the area and Yaela woke with a start, looking around in confusion. Ivy opened her eyes and blinked, looking into Sora's eyes. "Your...different, what did your mother say?" Sora chuckled and summoned Dark Nebula, the silver blade shining in the sunlight. He saw that the blade had changed slightly, the keychain wrapped around the base of the blade, interwoven between the two shafts. And the red eye had closed, a silver line passing parallel through it, running parallel with the blade.

Sora looked at Dark Nebula and stuck out his left hand, Ultima forming. 'Huh, I can use both. That's...fun. Twice the fun and double the trouble, I like it.' Sora felt heat touch his back and he turned once again, Barst once again trying to kill him with fire. Sora dismissed both Ultima and Dark Nebula and stepped forward, swatting the fireball away with a brush of his hand. "You stupid fool. Nyx herself came here and gave us back power she took from us. And yet you attack us again, knowing that we can easily destroy you." Sora walked forward and raised his right hand, lifting Barst with a thought. Sora felt Barst resist with his own power but Sora clung on, crushing Barst. "And now you will die. Die knowing that I will destroy this world, it has suffered under the keyblade tyranny long enough." Sora drew his hand forward and Barst flew toward him, flying toward his death. Sora summoned Dark Nebula and swung it toward Barst, appearing on the other side like nothing happened. Barst opened his mouth to speak but he choked on something. Sora turned around and turned Kairi with his mind, not wanting her to see what would follow. As Kairi turned Sora looked back, seeing Barst fall forward, his arms, legs, head, torso, shoulders, and everything else falling to the ground separate from the whole.

**Review! Please?**


	8. Inferno's gift

**Next chapter: Inferno's gift.**

**Blessing or a curse? Decide for yourself and tell me what you think. Is Inferno's gift helpful or a downright pain?**

Sora kissed Kairi, a kiss he swore fate didn't want them to have. He had barely leaned into the kiss when there came a crash. Sora sighed and Kairi mirrored his sigh, considering leaving that world just to start and finish their kiss. Sora turned to where the crash came from and he saw a Uriel appear, albeit much older and bigger, a massive keyblade clutched in his hand. "What I miss?" Sora scowled and he saw Kairi do the same, a laugh bubbling from his lips. "Not much. Killed the Elders, Nyx appeared, Nyx kissed us, Nyx gave us back our memories and power, Nyx left, I killed Barst, and that's the short and honest version. The end, now leave us alone, I actually want to start kissing Kairi." Sora took Kairi into his arms and flew up, giggles and laughs following them up.

Sora looked down, way way down, toward the ground. "No enemies, no trouble. We are officially alone. Now, come here, I want a kiss." Sora looked into Kairi's eyes and saw them twinkle as she smiled, leaning her head back. He dipped his head down and locked his lips with hers, nothing but the end of the world spoiling their moment. He kissed her long and hard, sweet and steady. Her tongue touched his lips and he opened his mouth, allowing her entry.

Sora and Kairi kissed for the longest time, hearts beating as one, breathing shallow and urgent, exploring each other's bodies. Sora drew away, Kairi's sweet taste still in his mouth. "Finally." Just in case Sora dipped his head forward again, Kairi meeting him half way.

Sora kissed Kairi all the way down to the ground, which he made very very slow, making their kisses long and enjoyable. Sora's feet touched the ground and he stepped back, seeing Riku's back turned to them with their new friends looking at them, waiting patiently for them to enjoy their moment.

Sora and Kairi finally broke their kiss, walking hand in hand toward their friends. Uriel greeted them and congratulated them on an astounding victory. Sora didn't even reply, not taking pleasure in taking a life, not even in defence. "Where will we go?" Both Yaela and Ivy looked at Uriel, expecting him to reply. "Well, the keyblade of Inferno," Uriel raised his mighty blade, "only appears in times of war, so, we stop the war from happening." Sora nodded. "So that's a keyblade of Inferno?" Uriel nodded. "And it's like über-powerful?" Uriel nodded again. "Yes, the most powerful weapon in existence. It is the key to ending any war." Sora took Kairi's hand, kissed it, and looked into Uriel's eyes. "So, where are we going?" Uriel raised his mighty blade above his head, looking at it in concentration. Infernus Ascensio glowed with red light and Uriel looked at Sora. Sora clucked his tongue in impatience. "So where are we going?" Uriel opened his mouth, closed it and opened it again. "Not a clue."

Sora shook his head and stepped forward, his footsteps echoing in the gloom. "Uriel, I didn't know you had a castle." Sora looked back and saw Uriel shrug, not looking interested. "Yeah, you never asked. I have two others as well, being a Master does have its perks." Uriel snapped his fingers and a small flame appeared above his palm, which he promptly threw to the side. The flame skid on the ground and grew, moving down the hall, illuminating the room. When it reached the end of the room it turned, coming back on the other side of the path. "Cool." The floor was white marble and faded tapestries adorned the walls. Sora walked forward, Kairi just behind him, looking up at the detailed painting of angels painted on the ceiling, the fire burning within the hearth at his feet lighting it with warm light.

"The Fall. Where more than a third of all angels fell. Arrogance is one of the first sins, angels believing they were more worthy of souls than man. That man was not deserving of an immortal soul, while they had no soul. Did you know it was Michael who sealed the doors to Hell?" Sora heard Kairi's 'huh' and looked at Uriel. "Did you know that? Supposedly the infamous unnamed books of Belphegor details what happened during the Fall, how they lost their heavenly beauty, banished to walk the earth until the end, searching, searching eternally for redemption." Uriel's mouth twisted into a sarcastic smile. "Which would you be Sora? The angel who fell for love or the angel who loved already, surrounded by his brothers and sisters for eternity?"

Sora looked up at the ceiling again and smiled, his eyes glistering with old power newly received. "I would fall, if only to love a girl for less than a century. Love endures all things, even eternity. She would die before me but I would be content, knowing true love in that short life-time." Sora touched Kairi's cheek and smiled at the painting again. "But then again, if she was pure in life she would be pure in death, the two of us together, facing the concept of eternity together. So I choose neither, guarding her against that would taint her in life so we could be together after she died. Funny then that I've already died, twice in fact. So what does that make me? The angel who fell or the angel who guarded his love?"

Sora turned to Kairi and smiled, his eyes twinkling in the gloom. "My angel, my love..." Sora bowed formally and grinned mischievously, kissing her when he stood up from the bow. "Come my sweet angel, let us leave this life and be together. We have left life behind, all left before us is to be together...forever." He pulled her into his arms and swung her around, her laughter like music to his ears. He swung her around again and again, everything a blur except her beautiful face, her smile melting his heart and her eyes looking into his very soul. He willed himself into the air, to drift but a few inches above the marble tiles. He pulled her closer and they kissed once more.

Sora looked toward the ground and saw Uriel mention to one of the winding stairways with his chin, blinked once and mouthed 'right.' Sora grinned around the kiss and drifted over to the staircase, floated up the stairs and willed the door to open, drifted in and closed the door behind him...

Riku watched Sora and Kairi drift away, following the directions Uriel had hidden so well. He looked away as they passed him but he felt the old jealousy and anger stir once more within him, reminding him why he had willingly let his heart be tainted. He opened his turquoise eyes and saw them focused on Yaela, but he had made no conscience effort to turn to her. And he was struck by a strange feeling, not awe or amusement, not lust or longing, just a warm glow within him. He saw her smile at him with her maroon eyes and he felt his face a smile as well, even though he made no conscience act to react to her smile. Riku asked where his room was and Uriel shrugged, saying he could take any room he wanted.

Riku left the hall of the castle, making his way over to the staircase opposite the one Sora had taken. He heard soft footsteps behind him but he didn't do anything, actually wanting the company for the first time in...he didn't even know how long.

Riku had never really wanted a girlfriend, just using and abusing their presence. He used them to make Sora jealous and he abused them for they kept other girls away. He'd never let himself get attached to a particular girl because he knew, or though he knew, that Kairi would end up with him one day. When he'd given into Darkness he'd thought she'd confess her undying love to him but she hadn't, she screamed at him before the Islands were consumed, screamed and screamed but Riku hadn't cared, Darkness giving him more pleasure than he'd ever felt. Now he knew how much of a heartless moron he'd been, knew that he'd never really loved Kairi, just cared that it had made Sora scream with frustration.

Riku looked over his shoulder and saw Yaela duck behind a corner, too fast for him to know who it was but not fast enough for him to catch a glimpse of her eyes. Her eyes, always the eyes. Ever since Riku had began using his blindfold he'd recognise a person by the soul in their eyes, not their face or their voice, only their eyes. But when he and Sora had returned to the Islands he realised that he didn't recognize anyone, their eyes new to him. On the second day he finally began to remember, remember his old friend's faces, their voices, their touch.

Riku walked to the corned slowly and walked out into the open, seeing Yaela far above him sitting in a window. She giggled and dropped down gracefully, looking elegant and regal even as she giggled in joy. "Sorry. I just, umm, thought you looked lonely," She reached out and almost brushed his cheek with her smooth hand but she stopped a hairs breadth from his skin, her heat radiating into his cold cheek. "so I went after you to see if you wanted to talk." Riku looked at her hand next to her cheek and considered the many cold remarks he had to make her run from him, crying. He opened his mouth to deliver the cruellest and coldest he could think of but remained silent, his sheer loneliness making him choke. He tried again but his throat remained clogged, so he just nodded and turned around again, slowing his long stride to match her much slower, but more graceful one.

Riku walked with Yaela beside him, both silent. Riku silent because he had nothing to say and Yaela silent because she was waiting for him to speak. And so they walked, the only sound their shoes slapping against the smooth stone. Yaela pursed her lips and considered what she could do, sneaking sidelong glances when she thought he wasn't looking. After a minute of sneaking looks and listening to the silence Yaela finally decided. She walked, more like danced, forward and stepped out in front of him, an adorable scowl on her face. Ivy had often laughed when Yaela scolded her, just laughing at the cuteness and strangeness of that scowl. Riku chuckled and Yaela deepened the scowl, Riku laughing all the more. "Don't look at me like that, oh ye of the cold scowl. It burns, it burns!"

Yaela frowned at the mock ye olden English but soon laughed as well, her scowl fading away. "Stop being so quite then. I won't scowl if you talk. Deal?" Yaela stuck her hand out and Riku looked at it with a raised brow. He stared at her hand for the longest time, Yaela even squirming at the intensity of his stare. "Deal." He took her hand and she felt a fluttering in her heart when she felt the stone cold skin of his hand touch her almost smouldering skin. She drew her hand away quickly and smiled up at him, wishing she had gotten her sister's height. Ivy would have stared into Riku's eyes, being as tall as she was, but Yaela was forced to be almost a head shorter than him, her head just above his chin. She stood on her toes to make herself look taller but Riku just chuckled and walked on, stepping by her almost as if she wasn't worth his trouble.

Yaela looked in silence as Riku walked around a corner, leaving her alone in the long corridor. She lowered her head in disappointment but she heard a whistle and she looked up, seeing Riku's smiling eyes waiting for her. She walked forward, danced, and quickly caught up to him, bouncing beside him in excitement. She felt something touch her head and push her down, when she inquired she saw it was Riku's hand, a pleading expression on his face. She nodded her head and stepped closer to him, his arm still raised to pin her down falling down her back and over her shoulder, the cold skin making her blush. She heard him chuckle and felt him move away but she clung to his arm and walked even closer, ignoring his attempts to pull his arm away. He soon gave up however, as her grip remained as firm as iron, gentle but firm.

"You're really warm, you know that?" Yaela looked up at Riku and silently cursed her shortness again, nodding her head. "Ivy reminds me, often. She teases me actually, saying she doesn't even need a heater in the winter." Riku chuckled but her scowl made him attempt to hide it in a cough. "And you're really cold. Colder than anyone I've ever felt. Except for the corpses we disposed of." Riku raised an eyebrow and Yaela quickly informed him. "It was one of Uriel's conditions. Ivy and I stay together, same room if we so wished, same missions, same Master. He was really my father, Uriel. I was two or so when Ivy first used her eyes. Our parents tried to help her by calling in the village priest but he condemned her to the stake, accusing her of being a witch. And Uriel found us, the first person besides Ivy I actually remember trusting. Barst was a tool, I knew that, meant to confuse the Elders as to who my Master really was."

Yaela fell silent and walked even closer to Riku, almost tripping him with every step she took. Before she could blink he'd turned to the side, opening a door. Yaela actually looked at their surrounding, seeing the doors and windows. Riku had chosen a very unusual place to call his room; very close to what Yaela knew was the execution square. And from the way Riku looked out the window closest to them he knew it too. 'Is he choosing this place because it has the very feel of death? Is he actually comfortable sleeping so close to a place where hundreds if not thousands have died?' Yaela looked into Riku's eyes and saw a coldness enter them, making her suspect she was only half right. 'He chose this place for the feel of death, that much is true but he isn't comfortable. He hates it, but why choose this place then?' Yaela opened her mouth to speak but Riku's eyes became half-lidded, almost like he was deep in thought. 'It reminds him of something. Just like Ivy's protector reminds her of the oath she swore.' She took his hand in her much smaller one and he regarded her with curiosity, smiling a second later. He pulled her away from the window, into the room he had chosen for his own.

Yaela threaded her hand through Riku's and looked around her, at the large silk bed and the very large open area that acquainted as the living room. "Why did you pick this one?" Riku looked at her and she answered his look of confusion. "Why did you choose this room? So close to the square?" Riku sat up and pulled his hand from hers walking to the one window overlooking the square. "It reminds me of something. Something I never want to forget." Yaela stood up and walked over to the window herself, looking at the gallows. "What can a gallows possibly remind you of except death?" Riku gasped in a breath and Yaela thought she'd crossed the line, but he just relaxed again and looked at her with soft eyes. "It reminds me of why I chose the Light. It reminds me of what I would have become if I kept on the road I was. The road to night, no Light before and no Light ahead. A road riddled with death and despair. The road to nowhere." Riku closed his eyes and sighed, a sound filled with sadness. "What made you decide?" Yaela's voice was so soft not even she heard it, but Riku did. "Seeing my friend give his life to save his Light. If he didn't kill himself he would have embraced the Darkness, but because he payed the ultimate price Kairi lived and he lived, walking in the Light. His commitment to Light made Kairi's love cut through the Darkness, made him come back for her."

Yaela nodded her head and looked at the gallows, at the blackened rope, at the tar stained wood. "It kinda does, doesn't it? It sings of death, the people who died here are singing. Can you hear it?" Yaela closed her eyes and hummed to the sound she heard, the sound of the wind moving through the blackened rope and blackened wood, the sweet peal of song it made. "Your weird." Yaela stopped whistling and raised an eyebrow at Riku's comment. "Says the one who chose a place of death to make his domain."

Riku listened to Yaela hum and felt each hummed note warm his cold cold heart. But the reason she was humming freaked him out. 'She's more comfortable around the dead than I am.' He quirked his head and smiled. "Your weird." At her reply he quirked an eyebrow and made a very surprised 'huh.' "True enough. And I never said I don't like weird." She blushed slightly and stepped away from the window, hiding behind a curtain of her blond hair.

Yaela felt something touch her and saw Riku's hand touch her cheek, only to move away, parting her hair. He smiled at her and she stepped forward, his ice cold arms encircling her flame hot body. "Fire and ice." Yaela smiled at the comparison she herself had made. "Yeah, but neither disappearing. The fire warming the ice and the ice bringing the fire under control. A good comparison. Riku, thank you." Yaela felt a chuckle rumbling her and she looked up, looking under the curtain of silver that was his hair, into turquoise eyes. "Pretty." He blinked before red spread over his cheeks. She chuckled and drew even closer, her eyes barely an inch from his. "Blue and green, pretty colours. And no gold, Darkness has no hold over you. That's good."

Riku looked into Yaela's maroon eyes and watched them darken and lighten as her pupils focused on him. He looked at her eyes and thought they were one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen, the most beautiful being the Corridor of Light he'd stepped through to return to the Islands after the final fight with Xemnas. "And yet I find them dull. Now your eyes, however, are more than pretty." Yaela's eyes brightened and she dipped her head backward, almost looking like she was stepping from his embrace. Before she took a step back he leaned forward and locked his lips with hers, the kiss freezing them both in place.

When Riku's lips touched hers Yaela thought she might faint, the sweet chill spreading over her was just so soft and soothing. She felt her arms wrap around Riku's neck and pull them tighter together, while she felt his one arm around her waist and his other knotting in her hair. She moaned and pulled herself even closer to him, her toes standing on his boots. He drew her up with the arm around her waist and stepped back, falling back onto the soft bed.

Yaela looked at Riku as he slept on his stomach, face toward her with his hair obscuring his face, still feeling his kisses on her body. She pulled her hair away from her face and touched the circular mark on her neck, where his teeth had dug deep. She had enjoyed the bite but she had enjoyed feeling his fingers playing lightly on her back before he fell asleep even more. She pulled the blanket away from his form and saw the deep furrows her nails had made on his back, winching slightly when she saw that one of the welts was weeping blood, staining his alabaster skin. She felt his arm wrap around her waist and looked down, smiling, but when she saw he was still asleep she moved closer and unwrapped herself from the blankets. She pushed herself from the bed after she took his arm away from her waist and stood up. She shook her head and her blond hair fall over her face, the braid she'd put it in long since unwound, and smiled when she looked out the window.

Yaela watched the gallows outside in the square and heard the song it sang, the bitter notes clear in her ear. But unlike any other time she pushed the music away, just looking at the gallows. She again touched the bite on her neck and felt it dissolve, her body treating it as any other wound. Yaela looked at her hands and saw that they were perfectly still, not the slightest shudder indicating her exhilaration and joy.

Yaela pulled the shirt she was wearing closer to herself and stepped into the corridor outside Riku's room, thanking the fact that Riku was the outcast of the group. 'I guess him being the one closest to death is a good thing. No one will know about this unless he tells, and he swore he wouldn't. Not until I'm ready.' Yaela smiled proudly and marched back the way she had come, already deciding where her room should be. But when she rounded the third corner she saw Ivy standing there, smiling broadly, waiting for her. "Enjoy yourself?" Instead of answering like she knew she should Yaela just stood there, already knowing what was coming. "Good...You know what happens now, don't you?"

Ivy smiled at her sister and felt pride warm her heart, a warm smile already on her face. "I followed you, subtly of course. I'm proud that you finally found a worthy consort but I'm disappointed you didn't know I was following you. And don't say you did, I know that would be a lie." Yaela nodded her head and sighed, already walking. "I'll be in my room. Good night Ivy." Before Yaela could move past her Ivy grabbed her arm. "Nu uh. You're not going anywhere." Yaela didn't even try to struggle, already knowing she would only delay the inevitable. "Time for the party." Yaela groaned and Ivy laughed, already planning when and where the party would be.

Sora looked at Kairi beside him and kissed her, his lips snaking from her shoulder to her cheek. She moaned and pulled him closer, her crimson hair bleeding over the white pillow her head rested on. Sora felt her fingers caress his hips softly and he shivered, her touch drawing him in. He kissed her cheek and let his weight rest on her, restraining her gently. Her arms came up in front of her chest and rested on his bare chest, tracing circles on his tanned skin. He shivered again and willed himself up, the blanket covering him and Kairi falling away from him, covering Kairi with its smooth silk. He settled back down on the ground beside the bed and dressed with some of the clothes he'd brought with him. Black leggings and a shirt that mirrored Zack's covered his form, black sneakers on his feet. He ducked down and pulled the case Cissnei had given him from under the bed, taking Misery and Rebellion from within. He fixed the holsters to his back and pulled six mags from within the case, two loading his dual guns and four stored within the holsters.

Sora looked at Kairi and saw her eyes following him as he moved about the room, not moving at all. "We should go." She didn't respond to his words but he knew she felt the same. "We still need to talk to Uriel about what we're doing next." Her face became harder, colder, but he knew it wasn't contempt she felt. It was fear about what could happen if they lose in any of the fights they would inevitably become involved in.

Kairi watched Sora dress and arm himself with Cissnei's gift and felt the weight of the conviction they both bore, the determination Sora possessed to end a war before it even began. She stood up from the bed and went into the bathroom, dressing in loose fitting red robes Ivy had given her. She fixed her hair in place with the strip of leather she kept with her at all times and strode back into the room she shared with Sora, her Shadow Hand gone for the time being, waiting for death's whistle to come. She walked over to Sora and felt her will crumble like a piece of glass against the floor, her shoulders sagging. She felt tears burn in her throat and she felt the tracks they made down her cheeks. She felt Sora wrap his arms around her and hold her, just hold her. She cried for just a few seconds before warmth spread within her, her resolve once more strong and unbroken. '_Most precious daughter, weep not. Hold true to the Light and you will never fall._' Kairi heeded the little voice inside of her and raised her head, confidant that they would not fail in the fight. 'We...will never fall. That I swear Nyx.'

Sora felt Kairi's body growing stiffer within his embrace, the trembling that had overtaken her coming to an abrupt halt. 'She has hope, hope that we will never fall.' He took a step back from his love and saw the silvery Light burn within her eyes, Light he faintly remembered from when he had first died, the Light that had brought him back. But before he could wonder about the Light it vanished, replaced by the normal twinkling that usually shone in her eyes.

Kairi looked at Sora and let the voice flow through her, empowering her confidence. "I'm ready." He smiled at her, a smile with equal amounts of his normal love and pride but with a dark edge, forcing a shiver down her spine. Before she could dwell on it however he threw open the door to their room and stepped out, waiting for her. She stepped into the corridor and felt Sora wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her into the air. Within a minute they were in the entrance hall, looking for their companions.

Sora dropped to the ground and looked toward the throne, the large structure black and white with mottled gold. He strode toward it and saw a figure sitting in its shadow, a figure wrapped in a dark coat. Sora stopped ten feet from the throne and examined it closer. The seat was made from shining white stone, with blue veins tracing the stone. The back arched more than ten feet into the air, gold tracing the black and white stone like waves. The arms of the chair were wrapped in what looked like flames, pale white flames. Upon closer inspection Sora realised it was mist, mist rising from the very stone itself. The arms were carved into the shape of dragons, their wings flowing into the stone. Their jaws were open and faced the room, fixed in a snarl. The back of the chair was shaped like wings, with multiple waves and shapes pounded into the stone. The throne was, in every contrast, mighty and looked fit for the greatest of kings.

Sora heard a deep sigh from beside the throne and swept his gaze toward the figure garbed in shadow. To his surprise he saw that it was Ivy, her eyes fixed on him, her face completely blank except for a small smile. "And so the angels rejoin the world. How was heaven?" To his surprise Kairi giggled. "Good. And you?" Ivy shrugged and her smile grew sweeter, her smile amplifying her beauty. "Hell is never pleasant. But redemption is rather enjoyable, no matter how sparse it makes itself known to me." Ivy rose to her feet and stepped onto the throne, sinking into its stone cradle. Before he could ask what she was doing the throne emitted a deep grumble, as if displeased. There was a flash of lightning and Ivy was thrown from her seat, landing on her feet beside Sora, laughing a bitter laugh all the while.

Sora gasped and looked at the throne that had so abruptly spewed Ivy from its seat. The mist that had wafted from the stone so minutely seconds before now raged about, a fierce wind howling. Ivy turned her head toward him and grinned, her eyes wide. "The throne only allows those who have the right to lead to sit in it. All others it purges." Ivy looked at Sora and motioned with her chin toward the throne. "Go on. Let's see."

Sora gulped and sank down into the throne, feeling dull warmth emit from the stone itself. Unlike how the stone appeared it was soft, like moss, but still solid. Before he could completely relax into the chair the white mist wrapped around his body. He held his breath as the mist washed over him and for the faintest second he thought he would be thrown across the room, but instead the mist settled against his skin and wrapped around him.

And through the mist he saw the strangest things, shadows of mighty beasts and those who rode them. He saw the shadow of a man wearing a crown with the glint of madness in his eyes. The images roiled, he saw a man riding a great beast look at dawn's light while he floated below the roof of the world. He saw a man sink down to his knees before a figure garbed in black flames, his face determined and just. Sora saw two men with crimson eyes ablaze with hate and blood face each other, their brotherly features blazing with the force of their will to fight the other, one to kill and one to protect. The shadows roiled and boiled and within their depths he saw the two men face each other, blades drawn, ready to strike the other down.

Sora roared in pain and leaped up, Dark Nebula and Ultima within his hands, slashing in blinding arcs at enemies that were not there, his back and arms aflame with pain. Before he knew what he was doing he held Ultima and Dark Nebula backhand, the blades skimming across each other. He whipped his arms forward, his two blades spinning end over end toward the foe he could not beat, Sloan standing before him with a sneer on his face. As his dual strike raid plunged into Sloan's chest the Heartless laughed, a sound that instantly told Sora he'd made a mistake.

Sora watched Sloan dissolve into shadow but still heard the maniac laughter, along with a sound he recognised as song, the words whispered so softly he couldn't distinguish their meaning. Sora recalled Ultima and Dark Nebula to his hands but they didn't appear, in fact he no longer felt their presence. And as the song grew louder and louder the mad laughter faded away, leaving Sora clutching his ears in pain, the song so loud he felt blood seep from his ears, but their meaning escaped him still.

And so Sora remained, his senses so assaulted by the song that he saw his vision flutter with each note, his sense of taste and smell assailed by burning metal, the metallic taste making him gag. Every beat of the music caused a burning chill to seep through his limbs, the pain invigorating him with renewed vigour. But throughout the assault he knew that he was under the effect of an illusion, what he experienced nothing but a mirror of someone's will. And the second he realised this the song grew silent, a presence brushing his mind. He shunned it with all his might, which was enough to destroy a world, but the presence brushed his efforts aside like a grain of sand caught in a storm. Once he realised he had no chance of keeping himself isolated from the presence he drew it closer, his mind bent on summoning forth the madness locked within him, his Heartless providing the force while his Nobody provided the control. And through the blaze of his power the presence drew closer to him still, his attempts of tearing it asunder pushed aside like so much chaff.

Sora fell deep within himself, his power insufficient and for naught against the intruder within his mind. '_Your efforts are...commendable. But against a force such as I the World trembles, my might being the source of all. I am Inferno Sora...And I require your help._' The voice that spoke invoked fear within Sora, fear and awe. 'Why? Why should the almighty Inferno require my help?' Sora's thoughts were commanded by instinct, but tempered with wisdom. Meaning his Heartless and Nobody had completely merged with him, even more so than when he'd killed the Elders. But Inferno contained much more, hate and love, fear and pride, life and death, hope and despair. '_That is a remarkable feat, to question me. But your question is one I deem worthy._

_Truth be told Sora, I am old, old and forgotten. As such I have faded from the World, a World fraught with civil reason. It was never within my design for my creations to be as they are, so arrogant and foolhardy, they opposed me. They opposed me and vanquished me. For if I strike out against what I have created I do nothing but destroy myself. I gave my creations free will, and that I will forever regret and accept. For free will has allowed the World to split apart, every force working for its own goals. I created the Four to balance this, but I created a failsafe if ever they rebelled. I created a Warrior of Inferno, blood untainted by reason and free will. Each Warrior has their will but their Blades do not, only existing for one reason: Destruction._

_It is a cruel will but it balances all, balances the four derived from me, balances them from themselves. But the time has risen for humanity to balance itself, I can no longer interfere. For if I interfere I go against the very Law I created. But there is some good that has come from the chaos, Warriors rise out of their own free will to balance the World._

_Warriors such as you, Sora._' Sora grew still, his mind still like a mountain pool untouched by time. 'What do you mean?' Sora's voice was faint and honest, his will crumbling. Inferno chuckled, a sound akin to a mountain splitting down the middle. '_You balance the World out of your own free will. And that is something that few can do. The Four are uncontrollable and wild, controlling all who wield them. But Warriors such as you, not allied to any of the Four stand apart, the sun that shines from above, observing the going-on in the World but never controlled by what you see._

_And for that reason I have allowed you to wield me once before, in your quest to awaken Nyx and teach Erebus the etiquette that dictates all things: Respect those who are your equal. But I meddled in that affair, willing Nyx to predetermine her choice to strip you of your power. I have never been encased to a single being, fixed to a single host. It is far too dangerous, you could be consumed by the power, which is why I allowed your familiar to live so long ago, his hatred tying him to life while his will to balance the World setting him apart._' Sora didn't know what Inferno was talking about, but he felt the memory of a being bound to him stir deep within him. '_And for that reason I have brought you here, to the verge of everything, where anything and nothing is possible. You can ask one act of me, an act devoid of all Laws and wills, a free act. What is it you wish? Power beyond all others? Power over your own self? Peace? Perfect hate, perfect love? Immortality? Beauty? Choose wisely, for I shall never again give a gift such as this to any other, I have given this gift to one before, and that was your very own familiar. He wanted revenge against those who wronged him, foolish as it was._'

Sora considered what he wanted. 'Power? With power I can protect Kairi. But power corrupts. Immortality? No, if Kairi died and I lived I would try to kill myself, so no. Power over myself? I don't even know what that means. I think I'd like world peace.' When Sora asked for world peace Inferno roared with laughter. '_It won't benefit you._' Sora considered again. 'To end all suffering.' Inferno roared with laughter again. '_All suffering is a part of life. True peace is found after death. No, suffering is needed in life._' Sora sighed and did something he'd otherwise never do, consider what he would need. 'What about control over my power?' Inferno considered it but Sora felt disappointment enter his mind. '_Mastery over your power comes with time. Experience gives more power than if I would merely give you mastery. Try again._' Sora sighed loudly. 'Fine, power over myself.'

Sora felt a deep satisfaction radiate from Inferno.

'His blood from he to me

Blood binds

Light shines

Shadows glisten,

instinct lifts its dark head

_Lend Dark power to me_

_By command_

_So mote it be_'

With a roar and a scream Inferno and Sora became one and the same, Sora so joined with Inferno he felt its flames burn his soul, changing him. Inferno shifted its being within him, its heavy and oppressive mind touching his very core, where Anti and Roxas dwelt. And within that Dark part of himself Sora felt Inferno burn and pillage, Roxas and Anti bleeding their respective power within his heart. Within a second Inferno drew away, leaving Sora feeling violated and confused.

Thus I have fed

His power be led

Sora felt something within him shift, change. He opened his eyes and felt his power bleeding into being, gushing from his body like blood from a gruesome wound. Sora screamed, his own power destroying him. And within the dark recess of his mind he heard Inferno speak once more, barely whispering the words. '_To live you must die. Rise from thine own ashes, rage and reap in death. Dance and leap in life. I taint ye not, thine own will now shapes thine destiny. Not I nor the other Four can touch your lifeline now. Know that you exist outside of Fate, your Fate no longer determined by any force. Good luck, Fateless one, live as thine will commands._'

Review! Please?


	9. Riku get's a girlfriend

**Next chapter: Riku get's a girlfr...lover. at least for now that's all they are.**

Sora opened his eyes and saw something around him ripple and tear, as if a piece of fabric had torn around him. And through the haze the torn fabric made he looked down at his own body, kneeling in front of the throne. He felt himself being slammed with what felt like a giant fist and he was knocked to the ground, into his body.

Sora opened his eyes once more and stood, his muscles protesting like he hadn't moved for hours, which he may have. He felt his heart open, almost like a door opening and he felt something heavy flow over his body, like liquid lead, and encase him. His heart pulled the flow within itself and Sora felt a part of his mind, a part old and no longer used, awaken. And as it did he noticed that his five senses were becoming keener, more adapt, more perfect. In less than a second, but what felt like hours to Sora, his mind took in every detail that his senses could now detect.

His sight was the first he grew accustomed to, the room seeming to flood with colour and textures. But he could have sharpened his sight with a simple spell, not even making a difference, but he saw something he never expected. Like a river flowing through the air, wrapping around Ivy and Kairi, sticking to them like metal to a magnet. With a start he realised it was the constant flux of energy all matter produced, the energy needed for life and existence. And among the flux of life energy he saw a strands of Light and Darkness, with everything in between, flow within the river of energy.

His hearing was next, he heard the heartbeat of everyone around him. But he remembered this from when he'd been immortal, nothing new. What was new was a whispering constantly shifting, like a crowd whispering in his ear, making him itch. For every time he tried focusing on a single whisper the rest of the whispers grew in strength, drowning out what he would otherwise hear, but the whispers so inter-mingled that he never heard a single word they told him.

Scent, overwhelming scent. He smelled everything, the small traces of mould forming on the stone stairs to his left, the damp on the ceiling, the faded scents of the paint used to dictate the painting above him. He even smelled the faintest traces of blood, along with the musty sweetness of death, from the opposite staircase he'd floated up. He smelled Kairi and Ivy's perfume, the musty scent of their bodies filling his mind with details he'd never noticed, like the faintest touch of pine that clung to Ivy's skin, so sparse it was neigh detectible. Or the faint scent of honey wafting from Kairi's lips, the spicy scent of Inferno wafting off her arm.

Touch was next, the air within the room caressing his body, something he'd only feel when he was falling from a high place or if he was running with great speed. He felt the flow of Light, Darkness, Twilight, Dawn, and of course Inferno, moving through his body, making him realise even though he completely cut himself off from his heart his body drew from the currents of power from the very air.

Taste was next. He tasted the damp within the room, the faint scents that clung to all matter. He tasted the sourness of stone, the sweetness of decay. Everything, he tasted Kairi, Ivy, the spider crouching in the corner.

And of course he felt, his intuition razor sharp. He knew that Ivy was prepared to take a step back before raising her right hand in front of her from the very deepness of the breath she took. He knew Kairi was near to running to him, her caution the only thing holding her back. He knew that Uriel was standing at the roof of the castle, the Inferno within the room informing him with the very feel of excitement it had in having a master once more.

All this Sora knew, his five senses with his intuition much more refined, sensitive, with _power over himself_. And in that instant he felt a memory surging within him, a memory transparent but deep. A memory of conscience, not his own. A memory passed between many, yet none. A memory containing what he now possessed, true reign over his own fate and life. A memory both long and short, extending for millennia and mere seconds. A memory he knew was meant for the few who controlled their own fate.

Sora looked at his hand and felt the flesh of his hands, the tendons and veins within him. And in that second he knew that no matter how powerful a weapon may be there would always be a weakness: the person who wielded it. Even if a weapon is absolutely perfect, infallible and unbeatable, the human factor would forever mar it. And the second he knew this he became enraged, enraged at his flesh, enraged at the fate every living being faced: death. And so he released his body, becoming complete. His flesh glowed black and white and his form began to change but remain the same. His flesh grew denser, more capable of both dealing and receiving devastating damage without being harmed. He delved into the faint memories he had from when he'd been immortal, the feel of his flesh. And that feeling he made real, his body becoming what it had been. His flesh hardened, his skin paled, his eyes glowed, his hair grew.

Before Sora could blink he was as he had been, skin pale white, body hardened, hair long and black, eyes aglow with power beyond any mortal. As the Change left him he took a breath and exhaled, his breath visible. He was beyond Fate, destiny no longer bound him to the World.

Sora waved his hand and stepped forward, the throne's mystical influence moving away. And as he walked he released his new control, his senses becoming dull once more, for he knew he would soon become annoyed at the fragile balance his mind made between a normal sound amplified and a sound not of the norm. And so he became as he had been before he sat down, perfectly normal except for his new yet old form. He knew that he looked exactly the same but he would influence people in a strange way, his immortal form made mortal instilling awe and fear in even the most hardened warriors. So he released his form and took the shape of the human still bound by fate, normal.

Sora looked at Kairi and opened his arms, his lover hurling herself into their protective embrace. "What was that?" She whispered so softly he doubted she spoke to him but he knew he owed her an explanation. "That...was Inferno giving me his thanks for helping the World find balance. He gave me control, perfect control. Control over my Fate." Instead of Kairi gasping or some other shocked response she grew still, terribly still. "So, what now? Will you stay with us? Or will you leave?" Sora restricted his own reaction to a frown she could not see. "What do you mean?" She sighed a tired sigh and stepped back, Sora seeing the shadows under her eyes for the first time. "Sora, I mean what I said. You just said Fate has no hold over you. You can leave and it won't affect you in the slightest. Regret is bound to those locked within the game fate plays with us." Sora nodded his head, understanding what she meant.

Kairi eyed Sora and rubbed at her eyes, trying to wipe some of the exhaustion from them. But she knew only a long, long rest would revive her. She bit her tongue and winched at the pain, the shock waking her up. "What will you do? Leave, or stay?" Instead of Sora just shrugging like he usually did he frowned, a look of concentration on his otherwise blank face. After a long, tense, pause Sora finally nodded, as if answering a question only he had heard. He locked his eyes with her and she was struck cold by their new depth, a depth only the old had, a depth only a man who knew his death was approaching but accepted it without regret had. "I still have a conscience, and until the day my conscience fades I will do what I think is right, whether it is within the bounds of destiny or not."

She nodded her head and smiled at him, a radiant dawn on a dark day. She looked into his eyes and accepted him, the good and the bad. And as she smiled she felt a joy seep into her heart, a joy that overwhelmed any other joy she'd ever felt, a joy she knew was not her own. 'Love him daughter, love him as he is. He is precious for all, but for you he holds a special place in his heart, a place of love so strong he would give up the sweet oblivion of death for you.' Kairi heard the little voice and held it to her heart, the silent voice giving her conviction. She looked at Sora and held out her hand, love giving her instruction. To her honest surprise Sora didn't move or speak, just looked at her.

When Sora looked at Kairi he felt the core of his soul tremble, a tremble he'd felt twice before. Once when he'd heard Kairi's voice bring him to life after he died, and when he saw her for the first time in The World That Never Was. And he knew he loved her, not a simple crush everyone would say they had but a true love, an imprint on his heart. He felt his heart quicken and felt his body react to his instincts, instincts buried beneath the primal instinct to destroy, the instinct to protect and care for the one he held closest to his heart. He wrapped his arms around Kairi's small waist and pulled her to his chest, already feeling that he was slightly taller than he'd been seconds before. He hugged her to his chest and eyed Ivy, who he was surprised to admit, was still standing as she'd been when he'd sat down on the throne. "Ivy, Kairi and I are gonna go get some sleep. Good night." She eyed him lazily and shrugged. "Night." When she didn't move he frowned and let Kairi go, albeit hesitantly, and walked over to Ivy. "And?"

Ivy watched Sora sit down in the throne and casually blinked her eyes, Changing them. She watched a blazing red energy tear Sora's soul apart, only to put it back together carefully, with a single scrap floating away. She chuckled when she felt Sora probe the room with his senses, emptying her body and mind of everything when his haze slid over her, not willing to show him what she truly was. When he and Kairi spoke she did nothing, not really caring, mulling over what she'd seen seconds before. When he spoke with her though, she focused on what he had to say. When he questioned her she blinked lazily, examining his closely. "I don't sleep. At least not much, so I wander around when I get bored. Good night Sora. Good night Kairi."

Ivy watched Sora and Kairi walk away, toward their room. When they were gone she sighed heavily and snapped her fingers, a shadowy blob forming at her feet. She motioned it up and wrapped it around her form, willing herself away. She fell into the floor beneath her and felt herself move. As she moved she wrinkled her nose in disgust. From the six or so ways of travel she knew moving through the flow of Darkness in a world was the one she hated most, although she understood why Uriel had taught her how to do it. He'd taught it to her when she first changed her eyes in front of him, explaining what she could do. He'd been impressed enough to help her develop the power, even though he had to do almost limitless research just to grasp the concept of her bloodline trait. But he'd enjoyed the study, found out a few secrets the old Elders had so carefully hidden. Secrets he had so easily found but had found difficult in understanding. The first as far as she knew was to use the world's Darkness or Light to travel, through the very matter the world was made of. She'd found it easy to do but almost never used the technique, as it made her feel dirty and used. Because while she was within the Darkness her body didn't exist, she was a part of the Darkness. But it was an easy way to travel, not taxing in any way to her body and it was fast as well, about a second of travel for almost any distance, no matter how far it was or how much matter separated the destination from her position.

Ivy felt her body form and she took a deep breath, her heart starting to beat once more. Before she could even take a step she felt someone touch her shoulder, so softly her mind didn't even realise it, but her body was another matter entirely. She felt her muscles contract tighter than they were ever meant to tighten. Her vision blurred as she flipped around, her head inches from the ground as her right hand shot out and grabbed the person's hand who'd touched her. As she flipped she twisted the hand she gripped with muscles hard as steel and saw a flick of silver hair before hearing the snap of two bones breaking followed by a muffled moan of pain. Ivy let go and saw Riku spin away from her, his right arm mangled. As he landed Ivy heard a gasp behind her and she saw the flash of golden hair before she could even blink.

Ivy watched in silence as Yaela caught Riku before he touched the ground, moving with speed she'd worked for years to gain. And as Ivy watched Riku's arm began to quiver, then shake violently. She heard the crack of bones and heard a muffled noise close to relief come from Riku, followed by the two of them kissing. Before Ivy could take a step back she moved forward, apparently with her own will. She frowned and took another step back, only to move forward again. When she turned her eyes toward Yaela she saw the tell-tale signs that her younger sister was using her eyes. "Yaela, do you really want to play this game? I'll win, you know this." Ivy took a step back again but she found that she was frozen. "Alright, little sister, you wanted this." Ivy closed her left eye and Changed her right, not willing to damage her vision on a little spat.

Ivy took a breath and touched the hatred that always seemed to slither beneath the surface, allowing it to fuel her. Her protector appeared, a bow in one hand and a quiver of arrows strapped to its waist. She willed it to attack, not allowing it to harm Riku or kill Yaela, just teach Yaela once again who was older. An arrow moved toward Yaela, only to split down the middle two feet away from its target, the two pieces skidding to the floor on either side of Yaela. "You seem to forget which one of us is stronger, sister." Yaela raised her head and showed Ivy her eyes, the white pupils.

As Ivy struck out at her sister she already knew the outcome of their fight, her heart barely in the fight. 'But Yaela is arrogant, and that is a weakness. Even as she controls my fate she forgets, my protector is outside of fate.' Ivy looked up and willed her protector to change, the rage and hatred feeding him. As the sword and shield formed she willed her protector to lower his shield, effectively blocking her from Yaela's eyes. The shield was a mirror, any damage done to it was reflected, meaning if Yaela willed her to move back Yaela herself would be moved back, her own command binding her in place.

As per usual their fight ended with Ivy sitting on Yaela's back, holding her sister's hands behind her back with one hand, touching Yaela's neck with the tip of her ivory keyblade. "I surrender." Ivy leaned down and wrapped her arm around her sister's neck, kissed her on the cheek and moved away, helping her up. "Good girl. Now, go help your consort. I think I might have hurt him a little more than I intended." And as always after Yaela lost she sighed and rolled her eyes before moving toward the reason the fight had started. "A little. I suppose I should be happy he's not dead." Ivy watched in certain amusement as Yaela, albeit grumpily, pulled Riku to his feet. After much moaning and groaning, because it seems Ivy had broken Riku's arm when he was still half asleep, Yaela and Riku were off to bed, leaving Ivy to roam the corridors as she always did, in silence, with no company except for the few cats and spiders living in the castle, all alone.

And through the corridors Ivy walked, shunning the lit corridors as well as those enshrouded in shadow. And as she walked she remembered, every single moment she'd ever lived playing like a tape through her mind, over and over, in an infinite loop. She didn't know why she did this, must be a way of keeping herself sane, with the sadness and hate she always carried with her. As well as the loneliness, always the loneliness. No matter how crowded a room and no matter how many people she had around her the loneliness always gnawed at her, biting raw the already blistered and bleeding heart of a person who had lost loved, never feeling the kindness of a friend, always feeling the coldness of self-pity and self-hate growing within her. Always festering, never healing, such is the way of the one who never cared, the one who said she never needed a companion, never needed anything but herself. And as her foolhardy wish had been respected she was shunned, keeping to herself, becoming hardened beyond belief, never showing emotion lest it be acted upon as a weakness, which happened often.

And as the light of dawn lightened the sky Ivy sat on the roof and allowed herself to feel, to feel the warmth she so envied dance on her skin. And as she felt she opened her heart, allowing the emotions she so wanted gone to surge forth, to run their course as they wanted. And as her emotions raged Ivy imagined what she would look like to a person who cared, to see the shaking and broken girl crying uncontrollably, the tears running down her face in rivulets, not stopping, running down her chin and into her shirt, staining it with her sadness.

And as she cried Ivy though she felt the faintest touch around her body, like a simple and gentle hug. But when she looked through eyes red-rimmed and awash with tears she saw nothing, and for some reason that made her cry all the harder, her heart shattering into a billion little pieces, each tiny shard a touch she had never felt, each cut they made a hug she never had, each twinge of pain a kiss she never tasted. And as she cried she felt, felt her emotions, and reminded herself anew that she was indeed alive. Because if she hurt, if she thought she couldn't go on, it meant she was still alive. Alive but dead inside, the warmth of love cold within her, the coldness of misery beyond belief keeping her alive.

Sora opened his eyes and drew a shaky breath, unshed tears burning his eyes. As he drew away from the misery he felt the smallest touch of a heart that lived for the hatred, the sadness, the emptiness.

While Ivy cried Yaela watched her, protected her. As her sister cried Yaela couldn't help but reach her mind out toward her, taking some of the suffocating sadness into her own heart. And as she held watch she felt the subtle swell of an immortal nearby, observing what she too was observing. But no matter how much she tried she couldn't find out who it was, the immortal so hidden in the swirling mass of hatred and misery she dared not search deeper, lest she be consumed by the emotions she helped her sister to bear.

Riku opened his eyes when he heard a door open, pushing himself up with his arms. He groaned and felt the touch of a hot iron all over his body, mostly from the base of his shoulders around his waist, mocking the semblance of wings. 'Yaela is kinda...strange. I like that but the wings were a bit much, but it did make it more fun. Pleasure and pain, fine separate but great together.' Riku opened his eyes and watched Yaela walk into the room, tears streaking down her face. "You okay?" When she jumped Riku stood up and went to her, seeing her eyes widen when she saw him. "You're awake." Riku didn't get that so he just stared at her, not doing anything. When she said nothing he took her hand and pulled, her body moving toward him. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed, when she did nothing he lifted her gently and walked over to the bed. He laid her gently down before he looked at her, looked at the tears.

Yaela looked at Riku, into his clear turquoise eyes, pale skin and silver hair. And at that moment she was breathless once more, as she had been the first time she'd seen him. When she had seen him the first time he'd been ready to take her life, his body humming with power. She had thought he was unique, savage power tamed with control learned through suffering. Sora had frightened her, yes, but Riku had made her feel fear. As almost no one could come close to harm her Yaela had grown confidant, rarely feeling nervous, least of all afraid. But when she was afraid it gave her a rush like nothing else, a rush she would do anything to feel again. And every time she looked at him she felt a shade of that rush, when he touched her even more, when he kissed her...she was in heaven.

Yaela looked into Riku's eyes and pushed herself up, wrapping both arms around his neck. She drew herself toward him and locked her lips with his, melting when she felt his lips move against hers.

Before long Yaela's eyes grew heavy and she fell asleep, clutching herself to Riku's arm. He watched her for a while before he too fell asleep, dreaming about what would and could have been.

Sora opened his eyes when he felt something warm his face. He blinked rapidly and his eyes adjusted to the bright light flooding the room. He looked to his side and saw Kairi just pull the bed's cover over her head, still asleep. He chuckled and began to prod her lightly, making her roll and squirm but stay asleep. He ducked under the blankets with a thin smile and started tickling her, her cheeks, her neck, her sides, until she started giggling. When she giggled herself awake Sora smiled a self-satisfied smile and pulled the bed's covers away, letting the light of the new day flood both him and Kairi with its warm light.

Sora leaned on his elbow and watched Kairi try in vain to sleep again, her mouth in a pout and her eyes tightly shut. He leaned over and brushed his lips over her cheek, revelling in the soft skin. She tried to shy away but her body reacted, following his flutter of kisses down her cheek. He smiled and leaned back, watched her for a second before he kissed her neck, moving down until he reached her shoulder. He bit the soft skin in the hollow of her neck softly and chuckled when she shivered, even though the room was comfortably warm. When she finally sighed he leaned back and watched her, watched her eyes open and chuckled when she glared at him. "Good morning. How'd you sleep?" Kairi glared at him some more but cuddled closer to him, wrapped her arm around him and promptly closed her eyes again. "Fine. This bed is comfy."

Sora chuckled again and nuzzled Kairi's neck, nibbling on her smooth skin, chuckling even harder when she drew even closer to him. "How are you? Really?" Sora's voice was soft but Kairi's body grew rigid, even her breathing stopping. She looked up at him from where she lay in his arms but said nothing, just looked into his eyes. "I don't know. It was my first kill but I've killed before. It was my first major fight but I had memories of fights even more serious, even more desperate. I just don't know. This...This whole thing is freaking me out. First I remember I've met an immortal then I remember that you died. That isn't something I can just ignore Sora. My life has changed, changed more than it should have." She looked into his eyes and looked away, disgusted at what she saw. "And now this. Those eyes, those beautiful, sweet, innocent eyes of the boy I fell in love with are gone. In their place are these perfect, deep, cold, cruel gemstones. And I can't take that, not yet. Your blue eyes were the only thing that reminded me of home, of how our lives were before you got the keyblade."

Kairi looked into Sora's almost white eyes and saw warmth build in them, a warmth she didn't know was possible in such cold eyes. He looked at her and dropped his eyes, true emotion coming into his eyes for the first time in years. "You stupid girl... You stupid, stupid girl." Kairi felt her face blush at the mocking tone but she did nothing, just watched Sora's emotions blossom in his eyes. "Kairi, I love you. That's why I changed. That boy you loved so long ago is gone, gone the second he saw you leave him. If I stayed as I was I would have broken my promise, I wouldn't have gone back to you. I would have died, died the second I saw Xemnas. The boy I was couldn't handle the pain and suffering I felt when I learned Xemnas had you. And he couldn't, wouldn't, have been able to kill. He wouldn't have been able to hate, wouldn't have been able to hate so completely the person who'd taken you from me. But I did hate, I did survive the sadness, I did live through the mass murder of Heartless and Nobodies. I killed without regret, killed without caring, killed to live. I killed because I had it within me to feel love, I loved you then and I love you now. I know I'll wake up one day screaming in terror at the sight of row upon row of people I've killed. I know that but I still kill, I kill so that I can stop killing. I kill so you don't have to. I kill so we can live through this. I kill so we can live in peace, I kill so that all our children can live in peace." Sora fell silent after he nearly screamed his reasons, his heart pounding and his breathing ragged.

Kairi listened to Sora without moving, without reacting. But when he fell silent she cracked a smile, a razor thin smile. "You love me? You really love me?" Even though he was dazed at her question he nodded, his head bobbing forward. "I love you too Sora. And I don't blame you for changing. I blame fate. I blame destiny. If I get the chance, and I pray I do, I will break that small flaw in creation. I will kill the three Fates. They will hang from a tree and rot for what they did. They forced billions of people to die because destiny called for them. And that I can't forgive. I can forgive Xemnas for kidnapping me, and I can forgive Ansem for trying to steal my heart but I can't forgive the Fates for having us change."

Kairi eyed Sora as his expression softened, making him look kind and generous, which he was in reality. She reached up and touched his face, running her fingers over the hollows of his cheeks and the smooth skin of his lips. "I love you." She leaned her face up and fluttered her lips against his neck, making him shiver. "Y'know Sora, I never thought we'd actually get together. I thought I'd either go out with Riku or you don't do anything. But I'm glad you did. That is something I don't want to change, us being together." Kairi gently opened her mouth and ran her tongue over Sora's neck, taking in the sweet taste of his skin.

Sora shivered again and pulled Kairi closer, her head under his neck. He gently pushed her away and looked into her eyes. "I would have asked you out...eventually. Actually, Riku dared me before the Islands were consumed. I thought he was joking but now...I think he was right, I should have asked you out sooner." Sora kissed Kairi's cheek and sighed contently as she hummed, a sweet sound against his ear. "We should go on a date. Not now but soon. Maybe the next world we visit or the one after that. Depends on where it is." Kairi's humming stopped for a second as she considered his words. She nodded slightly her head and started humming again.

Sora kissed Kairi's brow before he got up, his muscles stiff from the brutal hits he'd taken the day before. Nyx had healed him of some of his fatigue, just enough to keep him alive against another Elder but the power he now had, thanks to Nyx, that was barely a taste of his true power. When he'd gotten off the throne he'd felt his power surge, increasing slowly but at a constant rate. The surge had kept him awake until the early hours of the morning, at which he'd been so exhausted he hadn't cared about anything except sleep. Now he could barely believe he was in fact still human, the power was so much he was amazed his skin didn't crack under the strain. But he found that if he ignored his power he would be as he had been, strong but not indestructible. So now he just went on with his life, not doing anything he hadn't done before. As such he was surprised when Uriel suddenly appeared in the room with Infernus Ascensio clutched in his hand.

Being as he was, only boxers on with the fact that he hadn't known how long Uriel had been listening, he was flabbergast. Kairi kinda, sorta most defiantly screamed like the innocent girl she was and ducked under the blankets. "Get out! Uriel, get out!" Sora quirked his eyebrow at her reaction but he did in fact pummel into Uriel, almost instinctively, har de har har, and threw him through the door. But like almost always, almost, Sora used more strength than necessary. So instead of just shoving Uriel through the doorway and into the corridor he shoved him through the door, through solid stone in fact, and launched him into the wall. When Sora looked again Uriel was stuck in the wall, muttering about girls and their raging hormones as he rubbed his head. "Sorry 'bout that Uriel. You kinda...surprised me." Sora stuck out his arm to the older warrior but Uriel shook his head and flexed his muscles, stone crumbling around him. "No, forgive me. I shall knock next time, no?" Sora nodded and Uriel dropped to the ground, not in the least ruffled about having his body turned into a wrecking ball to destroy his own castle. Before Sora could help himself he barked a laugh, which he unsuccessfully tried to hide in a cough. "That was hilarious. Kairi screaming like a girl..." Sora heard something coming from behind and he ducked, seeing a shoe, his, hitting the wall his head had been in the way of. "What do you mean I screamed like a girl? I am a girl, which you obviously noticed."

Sora winched when he heard something else coming toward him and he ducked again, only to have another shoe, Kairi's, smack him on the back, where a particularly large bruise was colouring his flesh purple and green. He winched and spun around, already knowing what he would say. Before he could get a word out though Kairi herself came out of their bedroom, the beds blanket wrapped around her short boxers and thin night-shirt. Sora shot one hopeless look at Uriel for help but the mighty warrior of Inferno took one look at Sora, then Kairi, then Sora again before he burst out laughing. "Night after?" When Sora nodded and grinned a naughty grin Uriel chuckled again. "Can't help you there. See ya." With a cheery wave toward Sora and a scared look toward Kairi Uriel sank into the floor, Darkness covering his form. In less than a second Sora and Kairi were alone once more. Sora smiled at her and got a sphere of Light to the face, he could even swear he felt his jaw crack. "Night after? Night after! Is that guy code for something?" As Sora had fallen when the sphere of Light exploded in his face he crawled back, the same scared look on his face Uriel had had before he left. When Kairi took a step toward him he jumped, right into the wall. He swore loudly and skid back down to the floor, rubbing his head seeing three Kairi's scowling at him.

Kairi threw Sora with another sphere which hit him in the gut. She giggled softly and bent over, her hair falling around her face as she smiled. "Sora you lazy bum. What did you mean?" When he just blinked at her she got even closer, her red hair falling around his face. He did nothing still so Kairi sighed and sank down on her knees, straddling his hips. "Gotcha. Tell me." He just looked at her so Kairi did what she'd always done when Sora refused to tell her something. Something so vile and cruel he couldn't resist: puppy dog look. Her lips quivered as she pouted and her eyes grew wide and watery. She made a noise in the back of her throat and she leaned back on her hips, chin tucked against her collarbone.

Sora looked at Kairi's ultimate weapon and felt as he always did when she made that face. He held back laughter and a sound of sympathy, his heart melting. He knew that he would tell her in about five seconds flat if he didn't do something. So he did what he had never dared do when they were just friends. He reached out and touched Kairi's pouting lips, his fingers just lightly grazing over the soft, smooth skin. When her pout slipped a little he opened his eyes wide and thought about how much he loved her, the love he felt for her lighting up his eyes. When she looked star struck Sora smiled and wrapped both arms around her. He pulled her tight and stood up, Kairi's toes hovering inches above the floor. He walked back into their room and dropped her onto the bed. He gave her a short "Stay." And went to take a shower. When he was done he went back into their room and was amazed to find that she had in fact stayed. He smiled and sat down beside her, his fingers playing with her hair. "Roll over." When she did nothing he sighed and tisked. "I could only hope." He chuckled and splayed his fingers through her hair, kissing her as he did.

Kairi was annoyed. No better way to put it. Not only did Sora not tell her what Uriel had meant but he'd cut of their kiss before she was ready. And when she had insisted, pathetically if she said so herself, he finish what he started. But he just reminded her that Uriel had probably wanted to tell them something. So she had been a good girl and went to make herself pretty, as John had so typically told her every morning he'd woken her up. Sora was fine about the way she was, be she in clothes that would make John's heart stop or not. But she did actually have a sense of decency so she got ready, took a shower brushed her hair and teeth put her clothes on and so forth, complaining all the while. When she was done she watched Sora do something different to what he normally did. Instead of putting on his gloves he played with a scrap of cloth, pulling it through his fingers. When she asked him what he was doing he just shook his head and stuffed the piece of cloth into his pocket.

**Review! Please?**


	10. Death

**Next chapter: Death**

Sora walked through the corridor with Kairi at his side and heard the sound of an argument in the distance. He though he heard Riku and Yaela's names mentioned frequently but he wasn't sure. When they found the main hall Sora saw Riku and Yaela standing apart from the heated conversation Uriel, Theresa and Ivy were involved in. Sora eyed Ivy carefully as he made his way down the stairwell, trusting his body to ensure he did not fall. He had expected Ivy to be withdrawn or quite but she appeared more alive than he'd seen her, her eyes flashing dangerously in the dim light of the fire Uriel had probably lit again.

Sora and Kairi reached their friends and Sora started paying attention to what the argument was about. What he learned amused him. "So let me get this straight." Everyone, even Riku looked at him as he spoke. "Riku and Yaela hooked up last night?" Ivy nodded but the blushes from Riku and Yaela told him everything he needed to know. "And now Ivy wants to party?" Ivy nodded again but both Theresa and Uriel frowned while Riku and Yaela looked fully content to stare up at the painting adorning the roof. Ivy stepped toward him and smiled, a warm smile in fact. "Its tradition. When Yaela hooks up with someone, which rarely happens, we have a party. Yaela told you the caves below our last Haven was used for parties. We threw those parties, but as Yaela is picky childish and generally shallow when it comes to guys that has happened...twice." At Ivy's insults Yaela scowled but Ivy just threw her a hard glare and clicked her tongue, making Yaela roll her eyes and stare deeply into the fire in front of her. Sora made an amused sound in the back of his throat and saw a faint smile brighten Kairi's face, slightly. "When is this party? And where?" At that question the atmosphere in the huge room froze over, even though the fire kept Sora toasty warm. "Well? Where and when?" When no one did or said anything Sora looked at Riku, who just looked into the fire to his side. Sora looked at Yaela but she too refused to meet his stare. But when Sora looked at Uriel he did meet his gaze with a stern look, and obviously speaking as the group. "We have yet to find the next Haven so for the time being we...do...nothing." At that both Sora and Kairi sighed, twin weary sounds. Sora eyed Kairi and she eyed him in return, when she nodded slightly Sora nodded as well, following. "How about we go to Alagaësia? Haven't been there in a while. Or maybe Soul Society. We kinda sorta promised our friends we'd go back. Besides I wanna check how the captains are doing mastering their new power. And Eragon and Arya, we promised them we'd go back, even if for a short visit."

Kairi stood silently as everyone, meaning Ivy, Yaela, Uriel, Riku and Theresa, protested about them going to either Alagaësia or Soul Society. Even though she loathed to admit it their reasoning was valid, they couldn't take a vacation in the middle of a war. But Sora's reasoning was even more sound, valid and most of all, filled with wisdom. "Whether we leave or not it won't make a difference. Kairi and I swore an oath the day we left that we would protect," at this Sora summoned both his keyblades, Dark Nebula in his left hand and Fenrir in his right, "those who need protecting, even against ourselves. And that entails defending a world against itself, regardless whether they want our help. And another thing, I live outside of Fate, so I can do what I want, when I want." Sora grinned broadly and dismissed his keyblades, both blades lighting up the sides of his face with black and crimson sparks. Until then Kairi had done nothing but smile at him imagining meeting her old friends again but now she looked at the others, at the confused looks on their faces. Until then she hadn't realised they had no clue about what Sora had done last night, about how he'd talked to Inferno. But when she looked at Uriel she saw that he wasn't as confused as he made it out to be. 'He knows. But how?' And then Kairi realised she knew something no one else did, that she had penetrated the veil of mystery that always seemed to surround Uriel. But she had no idea how she'd done it, nor how she had known about Yaela and Riku, she just did. But she didn't say anything, not willing to spoil her chance to meet her friends again. And as such she never said anything, only realising later it would save her a world of pain.

Sora took Rebellion and Misery from his belt and looked at them, knowing he had better leave them behind lest people in Alagaësia would wonder what he did with them, which he knew was dangerous. Interfering with a world's technology was never a good thing, especially technology from the future and of war. As such Uriel had advised him to leave them behind, and Sora had agreed reluctantly. He stowed them away into their case and took the holsters from his belts, already feeling Cissnei's sword cutting into his flesh when she learns he hadn't even used his guns. He pushed away from the case and slammed the door shut, moving through the corridors with renewed determination. He reached the main hall again and saw the Corridor of Light already bathing the dark room with its brilliance. And beside it stood Ivy and Kairi. Uriel, Theresa and Yaela and Riku were oddly missing. When he asked Ivy about it she shrugged. "Uriel said not all of us can go. You made a point in saying you were with us only because of convenience so you and Kairi will go. I was curious about where you were going so I decided to tag along. Sure Uriel telling me to keep you out of trouble did decide it for me but I could refuse. Uriel knows he can't order me around, I'm too unique to cross or make an enemy of so I can do as I wish." At that Kairi snorted but Sora did nothing, watching Ivy's lips twist into a cruel smile. "Oh yes. I am not someone you would like to anger." At the hidden threat Sora pulled Kairi away, shooting Ivy a cautious look. Ivy laughed coldly but did nothing, just stood there smiling at them both.

After that most unfortunate conversation Uriel along with the others who would stay behind came to greet them, except for Theresa. She just told Sora not to die and walked away. Yaela greeted her sister with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Ivy hugged Riku and kissed him on the cheek as well, which surprised him but Yaela found it oddly fitting. Sora, Riku and Kairi shared a few words before Riku left with Yaela trailing behind him. Sora watched them walk away and finally decided he liked Yaela, especially if she made Riku happy. 'He deserves it. Especially after all he's done to protect us.' And with a few more words of farewell Sora, Kairi and Ivy went through the Corridor.

Sora stepped out into warm sunlight and immediately felt himself fall. He looked up and saw the ground rushing down to meet him with Kairi to his upper left. Before he could scream in irritation at where Uriel had thrown them, from the dead-drop of Sōkyoku hill, the pure bad luck of the situation made him bubble over with mirth. So as he was losing himself over to impending madness he naturally didn't notice that five people were falling, not three. But when he did finally manage to stop laughing and saw two additional people he kinda positioned himself closer to where Kairi was falling, falling between her and the two strangers. The first was a man, barely over seventeen but still a man, with orange hair and hazel eyes, a cleaver strapped to his back. When Sora looked at him again he noticed that the man was a Soul Reaper, albeit a strange one. The second person was someone Sora had never seen, a woman with chocolate skin and golden eyes. She was watching Sora with her golden eyes and open curiosity but the man was frowning at him, his hand resting on his sword.

But Sora wasn't concerned about the man, he looked simply cautious but the woman was staring at him with such unflinching focus and curiosity he knew that she could see that he was different. "Hi there." Sora made sure to keep his voice neutral but added a certain steel to it, just in case. The woman smiled brightly and floated closer, and Sora could see that she was in fact controlling her fall, just as he too was controlling his fall. "Ichigo, do you recognise him?" Even though the woman kept her eyes on Sora she was referring to the carrot top beside her. He drifted closer, controlling his fall as well albeit roughly, and eyed Sora and co strangely. "No, why would I remember a brat and two girls?" At the man's ignorance the woman, Yoruichi, grinned again and took a deep breath, almost as if she was going to announce a speech to the whole world. "Ladies and gentleman, allow me to introduce to you: Lord Sora, master of Darkness, wielder of the keyblade and Light, and teacher to all the captains. Lady Kairi, mistress of Light, Princess of heart, wielder of the keyblade, kindred spirit. Together Sora and Kairi triumphed over the evil Dan, and Sora singlehandedly wasted all the captains, old man Yamamoto included. They are our great friends and allies, sworn to help us in our darkest times, just as we swore to help them if the need arose. But it has been many a year since we saw them, and yet they look younger than my dear friend Soifon remembers. And that...is curious." With that Yoruichi fell silent.

Sora was quite surprised that the captains had told of them, but he wasn't so surprised that several years had passed since they were last there. "And how is it you know about us? Old master, new friend, leader of the stealth corps?" At that Yoruichi's eyes widened but Sora grinned. "Oh yes, I know who you are. You used to be a captain," Sora eyed Ichigo next. "and you are the substitute Soul Reaper. Rukia's told me about you, Ichigo Kurosaki, said you were one of the most loyal people she's ever met. She also said you were stubborn, slow, lazy, thick-headed and a few other choice insults. But...she likes you, if only as a friend." Sora fell silent and saw Ivy look at him strangely, as if questioning his intentions. But, as he noted, the ground was close at hand, so he pulled up, pulling everyone, even Ichigo and Ivy, with him. He slowed his descent and landed softly, raising barely a whisper of wind from below.

Sora released everyone from his influence and started walking, Kairi beside him with Ivy following them both after a moment's hesitation. Before long Sora came upon the room to captain Yamamoto's meeting hall. Like always he hesitated before pushing the door open, and like always the captains met him with pointed swords. Feeling quite giddy with reunion Sora ignored the sword and grinned broadly. As the door slammed shut behind him he bellowed in a louder than necessary voice. "If you don't want to be interrupted get a lock or something." As if to illustrate his point the door boomed open again, followed by the cheery shout of Soifon greeting Yoruichi.

After the initial introduction Sora began explaining what had happened after he and Kairi had left Soul Society, with the captains, substitute Soul Reaper, ex-captain, unique warrior and Kairi making noises of disbelief and surprise. Because Sora had only gotten his memory back the previous day he too was amazed at what he said, from destroying a castle of unimaginable size and power with all the people wherein to becoming immortal. He himself couldn't explain how it felt to be immortal, the way his body had changed, what he had felt. But he could explain the crushing pain and misery he had felt from not seeing Kairi for almost a week. How he had watched from the Darkness as her sadness and pain blotted out the Light in her heart, to have her lose her spiritual throne. The first Princess of Light to be tainted by Darkness. And how he had felt when Nyx had called for him to comfort her, to heal her. But when he reached the point where Nyx and Erebus had taken their memories Sora found that he remembered more than had taken place, which all the captains reckoned to be impossible. But Ivy had given him a simple explanation, one he could accept. "Nyx wanted you to remember how it felt. Even though you were in agony about losing your power and memory she must have known you would remember eventually. And once you did you had to know how it happened and why." Sora fell silent after that, having thrown in his two cents. And as both Ivy and Kairi remained silent he concluded their tale.

Yamamoto had remained silent throughout the story, as had most of the other captains. But when Sora fell silent Yamamoto rose up and greeted Sora and Kairi formally, welcoming them as honoured guests of Soul Society. At that both Sora and Kairi bowed and thanked him. But at that point Ichigo, who never had the patience for stories in the first place did what he would normally do, complain about what took so long. At that Shunsui chuckled and stepped forward with a bottle of sake in one hand and three cups in the other. "Not to sound like Ichigo but I agree. This meeting has taken more time than we had initially intended." Ukitake smiled at Kairi and walked out from where he stood. "Good to see you again, Princess." At that Kairi blushed and fell silent. Sora turned back toward Yamamoto and asked how their training had gone so far. "Master Sora, we train independently and as such we keep secrets, as loath as I am to admit it, but we all know the general level of power we all have. And as such I can promise we have become strong, but not as strong as Dark Dan." Sora quirked an eyebrow and asked Yamamoto about how Danny had in fact been.

The last time Sora had seen Danny had been when he had let him escape through a Corridor of Darkness, when Sora was in the midst of mastering his Darkness. He had had difficulty in defeating Danny as his Darkness had prevented him from relying upon any other power. But Sora knew he would have had difficulty defeating Danny whether he had used his full power or not, for Vanitas had trained him wholly and completely. But he had almost ripped Danny's arms off, and the Wielder of Light and Darkness would remember that next time they met. "True but Danny has the training of a master to aid him. Vanitas trained him for months, in truth Danny's far more advanced in his keyblade training than I am. But he'll remember that I could have killed him. He won't attack unless he knows he will be able to kill both Kairi and I. But now we have the help of two Masters and two Students. Danny won't try anything, he's too weak."

At that Kairi looked at Sora with a strange look on her face. "Which Sora is talking right now? The Sora who almost killed Danny or the Sora in front of me?" At that Sora's eyes got misty and wide, he opened his mouth slightly before he looked down at the floor. He stood like that for nearly a minute, not breathing or moving before he finally answered. "I...don't know. My memories tell me I can kill Danny but my gut says I can't. I have all the power I had when I was immortal but that's not saying much. When I was immortal I was alone, not one of the hearts within me giving me their power. But when I was immortal I had Primal Darkness, now I have Darkness and Light. And from what I can tell, or what Nyx told me, I'm weaker now than I was before but much more powerful than I've ever been." His piece said Sora fell silent, with most everyone looking at him in confusion. But the first to respond was Byakuya, in his usual response. "So you say you are far more powerful than before but weaker as well. And what...does that mean?" And with those words he again took his place among the ranks, stoic and arrogant, like he usually was.

The only one who seemed willing to respond to Byakuya's words was the one Kairi had least expected to speak during the meeting, the man Ichigo Kurosaki. "Byakuya, what are you saying? Your saying he's weak, not worthy? Not born to lead?" Ichigo's words were so brittle Kairi began to suspect Ichigo, too, had received the speech Byakuya and the other captains were probably thinking about giving. But she kept quite, focusing on Sora's reaction more than anyone else's. But to her surprise Sora had reacted to the obvious insult. His shoulders were stiff and his chin lowered with his jaw clenched. His expression was one of control, as if he was trying to keep himself from saying something. This Kairi understood, Sora had always been one to disrespect authority, especially authority someone was born into. And Byakuya was born into authority, always pampered and given what he wanted. Whereas Sora had to fight for the respect everyone showed him, fought for Kairi's pride when people had picked on her. Like Lucas, he'd been a brat who'd always picked on her, until Sora broke his arm and humiliated him in front of the whole school. Sora had been punished for fighting, for breaking 'the poor, defenceless boy's' arm. But he had endured, not giving a reason for doing what he did.

To Ichigo's words Byakuya smirked, a dark glint shining in his eyes. "Yes boy, I am saying he's weak. He's lost the only reason he had for being here. If not for the rules of etiquette I would have dealt with him the second he walked into this room. He lost all right he had of speaking to us as an equal, lost all right to speak to us as a subordinate should. And unless he proves he is worthy of being respected I shall do my best to dishonour him, to have him ridiculed." At Byakuya's words Kairi expected protest or even outrage from the other captains but what she saw shocked her. All the captains, save Toshiro and Ukitake looked away, agreement and shame reflected in their eyes. Kairi walked forward, suppressing the urge to give Byakuya the beating of his life, but when Sora started to crack up she stopped dead in her tracks. She watched in shock as Sora raised his head and laughed, his shoulders still slumped but his hands clenched so tightly his knuckles were white.

Sora laughed, no longer able to hold back the mirth he'd been keeping inside of him from the second Byakuya spoke. When he finally stopped he opened his eyes and let his instincts take hold of him, his senses once more becoming sharper and clearer. The flow like liquid lead encased his form once more and his heart unlocked the primal part of him. And as his body opened itself to his instincts he drew upon his primal power, power Inferno had obviously unlocked. His flesh hardened and his features changed. His hair grew in length and his skin paled, his eyes itched and his body grew leaner and longer. When he had fully embraced the power he was as he had been when he was immortal, except for the wings and silver armour. He took a deep breath and exhaled, cooling the room to below freezing.

Sora looked at Byakuya and sharpened his thoughts into a single red-hot blade of pain which he thrust deep into the captains mind. The second Sora felt the planes of Byakuya's mind he almost drew away, surprise pulling him back. 'He's old. Very very old.' Sora had known that the captains were old, save for Toshiro, but he had never thought about how old. Sure, he'd known Soul reapers could grow hundreds if not thousands of years old without so much as a wrinkle but it was something else feeling the experience of so many years pressed against his mind. But he continued with his attack, twisting his blade of thought as soon as he had a grip on Byakuya's mind. But Byakuya too was adapt at fending off mental attacks, as well as attacking with his mind. Before Sora could exact the smallest amount of pain he felt Byakuya thrust him out with mental barriers smooth of all defects. But the second Sora had been within Byakuya's mind he had glimpsed how he could pierce through Byakuya's defences and so he did. What he saw was something he could barely explain. Byakuya's mind was cold while at the same time boiling, his grip on his emotions cooling him mind while his base thoughts made his mind boil with impatience and frustration. And within Byakuya's mind Sora found dozens of barriers, barriers of diamond, absorbing all his attempts to break them but not bending in the slightest.

And as Sora fought Byakuya with his mind he was walking forward, a blade of hate clutched in his left hand. But before he could come within six feet of the ebony haired man the other captains intervened, standing between him and his target. Byakuya's shouts of agony filled the air but the captains didn't spare him a glance, focused on Sora as they were. And as Sora walked forward he felt six blades of thought being driven into his mind, trying to subdue him with pure might. But Sora had learned a few tricks from Erebus, especially tricks involving fights within the mind. Sora drew the captains into his mind and released his hold on Byakuya, drawing all seven minds into his own. And when he knew they were so deep within his mind they couldn't withdraw easily he threw up barriers within his own mind, locking the intruders in his mind. And when they were well and truly trapped he closed his eyes and drew himself into his mind.

Sora opened his mind and drew in a deep breath. He saw the seven captains who had so recklessly tried to force him into submission and smiled. "Welcome to my world." The captains looked at him before casting their eyes out, looking at their surroundings. Sora himself cast his eyes out and chuckled to see he was on the Islands, on the beach close to the dock to be precise. But it was different from the real Islands, twisted and changed as he saw fit. Instead of the dock was a rock, carved with strange and twisted runes. 'My immortal lineage. Nyx gave it back to me.' Sora cast his eyes out to the ocean and saw that instead of the pale white sand the real Islands had there were jewels, rubies and sapphires, emeralds and diamonds. Every kind of precious stone he knew of was present. And each jewel represented a pleasant memory. He looked up into the sky and saw the black and purple clouds on the horizon blot out the pale blue sky. But the Islands were much more real than the Islands Sora grew up on, much more detailed and pure than when they really were. The captains shot him strange looks but said nothing, instead looking at the strange image he had decided to show them. "These are my precious memories, each one worth more than the jewels they represent. Like this one," Sora reached down and pulled a pink jewel from beneath his feet, the memory showing his return to the Islands, the smile Kairi had given him when she helped him out of the water. "But this isn't what I wanted to show you, there are more, much more." Sora dropped the jewel he held in his hand and it fell into the black water he stood in. He blinked and his surroundings changed, becoming much darker and more sinister.

Sora's mind now showed him and the captains the world he'd gone to when he had gone to master his Darkness. "Welcome to Hell. My hell at that." Sora kicked the rocks beneath his feet and saw them break, every memory he had felt pain and fear dripping from them like poison. Sora crushed all the stones underfoot and let the memories float into the air, each stone revealing its contents for everyone to see. Sora watched himself writhe on the floor in pain one second and seeing himself drifting through Darkness as he drove the keyblade of hearts through his own heart. But the pain and misery of his memories didn't touch him, his will unbroken and unbending. Instead all his suffering went to the captains who'd violated his mind, his pain becoming theirs, his suffering making them suffer.

But all Sora's attempts to make the captains give up failed, their will to live overpowering his will, no matter how destructive, to make them suffer. So he changed the surroundings again, to what he desired. As his dark Hell faded away he felt the strain his heart was experiencing, but he cared little. 'I will make them understand, no matter what it costs.' Sora drew more heavily upon his power, Heartless and Nobody merging with him to feed him even more intoxicating power. Before he could blink his heart gave way, his power insufficient to show what he wanted to show. And as his power drained away he felt the captains begin to assault his mind once more, with much more success. Sora watched the barriers he'd erected around the captains fall away, allowing them to return to their bodies. 'Nyx, help me. Help me make them understand...' With this fervent prayer Sora fell to his knees, no longer able to hold the illusion he'd made.

Sora opened his eyes and saw the floor beneath his nose tremble, his breath coming in short pants as his life slipped. But the words Inferno told him the day before echoed in his mind._ 'To live you must die. Know that you exist outside of Fate, your Fate no longer determined by any force. Good luck, Fateless one, live as thine will commands._' These words Sora had played over and over in his mind, changing the words around as he saw fit. But he had no clue what they really meant. 'To live I must die? I have died, twice if you count that little play Nyx and I set up.' But Sora had never considered what he'd done dying, he considered it more as a willing damnation. 'Nyx, help me...' With this though running through his mind Sora felt a memory brush his heart, a memory he'd never understood or wanted to have. A memory Thorn had shown him, a memory Thorn had found beautiful in its intricate complexity. A memory Thorn had captured early in his life, almost directly after he destroyed his home world.

_Thorn looked to the west, where the blood red sun was being consumed by the blue blue oceans. He looked up and saw the golden light from the sun bathing the heavens above him, the gold staining the black of night. He looked back toward the sun and saw the splatter of clouds obscure the red orb, the clouds illuminated from within. And there Thorn remained, the sun burning the sky with its pure radiance and the clouds shining with all the colours of the rainbow and more. Thorn looked down toward the water below and saw the great creatures of the ocean rise from the water to witness the spectacle of the setting sun, their enormous heads raised up toward the heavens as if in prayer. Before long the sun's rays no longer shone on the water far below, moving away rapidly as the sun dipped farther below the horizon. But Thorn saw the sun still, saw the rays turn the black water pale blue and brilliant green, staring in awe at the cycle that happened every single day. Before long the sun had well and truly set, just the barest glimmer of its light touching the clouds. Thorn turned to leave but the rising moon caught his eye, the silver light touching the water and clouds above and below him. 'Such beauty. Not even the most noble of queens can compare, not even the immortals can dare call themselves more perfect than this.' Thorn watched in awe as the creatures below him keened toward the moon, their heads thrown back in a howl he couldn't hear. 'Such a simple thing, something as old as life itself. Always moving, never ending. So simple and yet not comprehendible. So pure and innocent but so misunderstood, beautiful but so often ignored.'_

Sora had never understood why Thorn had shown him the memory every chance he could and he still didn't, but maybe it was because of the simple things in life, a sunset here or an especially bright flower or star there. He didn't know why the memory would reveal itself now, especially since he asked for help, not information he still didn't understand. '_You must learn to see what you are looking at._' Sora froze for a second before he shook his head. 'How?' Sora's mind was slow and heavy, which he took as a bad sign but he really didn't care. '_You use instinct to attack and destroy but you ignore the gentler arts, observe and you will see._' Sora nodded and let instinct flood into him, drawing himself back into the memory Thorn had given him.

Sora watched through Thorns eyes and gasped at what he saw. The red sun was different and everything else was as well. The sun shone with silver and blue light, making the clouds appear even more glorious. The waves below were so deep and clean of impurity Sora thought he could see the very bottom of the ocean, even though he knew it must be hundreds if not thousands of feet deep. The black sky above shone with the vapour of energy, reminding him distinctly of the Aurora he'd seen once in Mulan's world, but the colours were much deeper and more distinct. The clouds seemed to have more colours than Sora had memories, gold and grey, blue and silver, all the colours he could imagine shone within their depths. When the sun had set through Thorn's eyes Sora gasped at the subtle change of colour reflected in the very sky from the sudden lack of light. When the moon came into view Sora felt his heart stop for a second, the silver orb so round and ragged it was breathtaking. 'Now I see, now I see why Thorn loved this memory. He loved this...simple beauty, the waves and the sky, the shining moon and clouds. It's perfect, nothing can make this more perfect.' And there Sora remained, fixated on the image now permanently burned into his mind, taking strength from the thought that he had seen true beauty. 'Yes, life is beautiful, but death is as well. You would be surprised how glorious it is to see the flow of blood from a gaping wound and the sight of a man's eyes as his life is snuffed out. Even the most ordinary things can teach you an almost infinite amount of things. If you study a flower or even a grain of sand close enough the ways of the very World will be revealed to you. It is good you did this now and not later. Kairi will keep you occupied later, as well as the many battles you will inevitably face.'

Sora opened his eyes and let his instincts take over once more, seeing the world for what it was. He took strength from the beauty around him and got to his feet, his body weak and weary but willing to continue. Sora watched the captains get to their feet as well, having used most of their strength and concentration to keep Sora's mind at bay. As he watched they looked at him with new fear but still a will to protect one of their own. But Sora himself was more than willing to continue, willing to tear the world apart with his bare hands if need be. And that determination is what drove him to his knees, his body giving way beneath him. And in his ear Inferno chuckled evilly. 'You would do what destiny wills? You have asked and I have given, do not mock me.' Sora gasped when he felt bands of iron tighten around his chest, his blood boiling within him.

**Review! Please?**


	11. Angelfire and Demonic might

**Next chapter: Angelfire and Demonic might.**

**Yeah, couldn't think of a name so I just...used the name Nyx actually stands for.**

Sora screamed in pain when his skin cracked, his blood boiling him alive. When slashes appeared on his body, deep excruciating slashes, he heard Inferno roar with laughter. His bones snapped within him and his organs burst, but he endured, his life refusing to slip away. When his body was engulfed in flames Sora merely curled into a ball and willed the pain away, his flesh melting away. But when he was nothing more than a mutilated pile of ashes with nothing but a heart and the minimal amount of blood and flesh Sora knew his life would slip away. And that knowledge made him panic, panic with all life left within him. Sure, he'd died twice and faced seemingly un-killable enemies but he'd always known he had a chance, no matter how slim a chance it may have been. But now...when he didn't even know what was happening to him...he lost hope. His will to live crumbled and he knew he had no chance. And that second Sora heard his heart stutter and finally stop, letting his body and soul die...once again. Without honour and without glory, he just...died.

Kairi watched Sora and the captains collapse on the ground but she had faith that they would work through their spat. When the captains got up but Sora didn't she got worried, when Sora started to bleed she felt fear knaw at her. When he was enveloped in flames she ran to him, trying to touch him but burning when she did. She screamed for Sora but he never responded, curled into a ball with his flesh and bones smoking. When the flames died she reached out to him but the captains restrained her, telling her they'd take care of it. But they never did, her lover breathing his last breath mere inches from her. And then, and only then, did she let her emotions spill forth. First disbelief, screaming for Sora to get up. Second anger. She lashed out at the captains restraining her and watched in sick satisfaction as they were thrown through the air with gruesome holes in their skin and clothing. And lastly...she felt sadness, sadness consuming. She watched on as Sora's body was taken away, the captains crowded around her. At first she listened to the captains speak, some of regret and others of sympathy but all of them, even Byakuya, in shame. But after a while their words seemed to flow together, leaving her in a bubble of chatter and irritation. 'He'd not dead...'

Sora looked up from the circle of blood and ash he was laying in toward the light shining so far away. He had tried getting up more than once but his limbs were heavy and unfeeling, almost as if they were covered in heavy cold mud. He screamed often, his words echoing around him. But never did he consider asking for help. Nyx had helped him enough and Inferno had killed him, left him in this desolate place to rot. He heard Nyx often, sometimes he even saw her standing by his head. But never did she stay seen for longer than a second, just showed herself long enough for Sora to know she was there, even if just to listen to him speak. But never once did he speak with her, even though he knew she would stay to comfort him if he so wished, instead he cursed and screamed at Inferno. And as he screamed his insults and curses he heard a faint shimmer in the air that told him Inferno was in fact listening. But never once did he ask for help, ignoring the immortal who had made herself his alley and friend, screaming his revenge on a being older than life itself. He never knew how long he'd been in that dark place, never knew time passed, never knew that Kairi was screaming at him to open his eyes. When he grew bored of screaming he sang to himself, every song he'd ever heard he sang, trying to remember the melody and words. But he didn't sing to keep himself occupied, he sang because it gave him comfort, allowed him to do something with his mind.

And so time passed for Sora, his mind becoming ever sharper and colder as he did everything he could to shape his mind. Sometimes he counted, just to have a semblance of time. When he'd been through the millions and billions hundreds of times he finally fell silent, to discover that his wounds had healed. His skin was moist and pink, his muscles and bones aching. He even saw his hair growing, soon, or rather later, passing over his eyes and onto his nose. When his hair reached his chin he finally called for Nyx, not asking for help but guidance. And she appeared beside him, on her knees, her face lined with tears and her lips blue. She swept Sora's hair from his face and caressed his cheek, giving him comfort. "My son, why do you torture yourself so? Why do you give Inferno what he wants?" Sora didn't respond, just looked at Nyx, looked at the now ragged beauty he'd met so long ago. "Nyx...why do you care for me? Why are you crying for a boy who has given you nothing but misery?" Instead of answering his question Nyx sank down beside him, her head resting on his chest. And oddly enough when Sora tried moving his body he found that he could move his arms. "Ohh Sora, why do you torture yourself so?" Even though she'd asked this question before Sora decided to answer her with the truth as he saw it. "Because I deserve it." Sora pushed Nyx away but she didn't move, her grip gentle but incredibly strong. "Do not shun me, I came because you asked it of me." Sora nodded and pulled her even closer, her hair's scent sweet in his nose. "Why do you care about me Nyx? I'm nothing to you, just a piece of dust that makes up the World."

Nyx drew away, her eyes locked on the mangled and damaged boy beneath her. "You're not just a speck of dust, you are my son, my love, my friend. You did what no other could, you looked upon me not in awe or fear or love or even lust but in sympathy. You felt sympathy for a being older than time itself, a being with power over life itself with endless resources, a being without flaw or imperfection. And for that I can do nothing but love you, you're innocent soul so kind and gentle I cannot help but want to protect you from pain. I help you because you are unique, a human who had died once before yet had no fear of death. You care little for yourself but will sacrifice anything you have to wipe the tears from a friend's face." Nyx smiled at Sora, her tears dry and her lips pink. "And that is why you find yourself able to move. Your will to console others is without equal, your first instinct is to protect your friends from the enemy and not to destroy the enemy seeking to harm your friends." Nyx caressed Sora's cheek and blushed when his cheeks warmed at her touch. "Your will is immortal, no matter how battered and bleeding your body is you find a way to stop someone from hurting your friends. You sacrificed yourself without hesitation to restore your young love's heart. You thanked your biggest foe on your knees when he protected Kairi, his past wrongs forgiven and if not forgotten ignored." Nyx pulled herself onto Sora, looking down at the boy beneath her. "You have power no other has, you have the power of choice. You can choose whether you want to die or not, and that is as much a blessing as a curse. If you give up hope you're body will die just as surely as it has died mere moments ago, but if your will is unbending and refuses to break you can win any fight, even a fight against the very World. Inferno himself could do nothing against you, he said so himself."

Sora looked into Nyx's eyes and saw that she was indeed speaking the truth, or at least as she saw it. "So I'm pretty much immortal?" She looked amused but she nodded. "Yes, but like I said, only if you will it so. But immortality is not something you would choose to misuse, to live longer than your friends and family while you remain young...It is crushing to see someone barely a third your age die from old age. I would not recommend that you endure the test of time while all those around you die." Sora nodded his head and hugged Nyx to his chest, grateful for her wisdom. "Thank you Nyx...thank you."

Nyx let herself melt into the boy who hugged her, she even allowed herself to rest her cheek against his. 'So innocent...and yet so cold and cruel. You truly are one of a kind Sora. I can only hope you do not give in to the wisdom of others. They are useful, but wisdom comes with time. And if you endure you will obtain wisdom beyond all others.' Nyx wrapped her arms around the boy she so dearly loved and pulled him to his feet. She stepped away and looked down at his body. "Oh dear. I think new clothes are in order don't you think." Nyx raised her left hand and gently waved it down Sora's body, black and crimson garments appearing on his body as she did.

Sora looked down at his body and saw the new clothes tighten and loosen as per his comfort. When they stopped growing and shrinking he could finally look at them in detail. He wore black pants, with various straps of leather and metal covering it, with a thick crimson belt around his waist with many belts hanging from it. He wore a tight black woollen shirt that came almost to his neck with short sleeves. He wore a black and crimson jacket with no sleeves with a black coat over it, with the sleeves torn from the fabric. His feet were covered in black boots and gauntlets covered his hands and forearms. The gauntlets were disjointed, both his palms open with no material covering his fingers but metal plates covering the back of his hands while his forearms were completely encased in armoured leather. He though he looked like a paladin turned mage but he kept his opinion to himself, when he considered it Nyx's choice in clothing suited him. He no longer wore gloves but preferred to keep his arms protected and he liked having a coat cloak him from prying eyes if he was using stealth. When he looked at the coat again he saw black marks carved into the fabric below his sternum and marks tracing from the centre of his chest all the way around to the small of his back. When he asked Nyx she smiled at him and slid her hand over the mark directly below his sternum. When he blinked he was entirely covered with his coat so no skin was visible with a deep hood thrown over his head. When she brushed her hand over the mark again the coat reverted back to its original form. "The other seals are far more complex, giving you the form you had when you were still fully immortal. The armour was made by Ares so you can be assured it is sturdy while your wings are as they should be, with all the glory and power they had when you sat at my table." Sora thanked her and asked what would happen now. "Well, my young friend and ally I must go revive you, as well as somehow manage to keep those pesky captains from destroying your body. They really are a nuisance, I never wanted them to exist and now my thoughts have become reality. They are a problem, but that is my concern. You must remain here and learn to use your will."

Sora nodded and sat down where he had been entrapped for so long. He watched Nyx vanish and closed his eyes. "And Sora...don't think you are the most powerful being in existence. You are not, there are many more powerful than you. Like Uriel and Yaela. Good luck." And she was gone. 'What does she mean Yaela? What can Yaela do? I thought Ivy was stronger. But Nyx would probably tell me to see what I'm looking at so I'll do that.' Sora thought back to every time he'd seen and talked to Yaela, her strength and powers. What he came down with was rather confusing, at least for him. Yaela was incredibly balanced without fail but he had saved her from falling into a river when she slipped on a rugged rock. She had killed the Elder's Riku had faced but she had flinched when Barst had threatened her. She was more than capable in battle but she usually did nothing to make someone aggressive, being gentle in both words and actions. She was fun loving and she followed Riku around like a lost puppy but she could easily keep him in one place if she so wished. She could see into the future but she made all the mistakes everyone else did, she was innocent and adorable like a normal teenage girl but Ivy often remarked about how cruel and cold she was. She was frustrated when something didn't go to plan even though she could easily have solved the problem before it happened. All in all she was what he would call a person he'd like to hang around with if just for the fact that she was a good friend. 'What did Nyx mean?'

Nyx walked through the many corridors within Seireitei looking for Sora's body, sometimes drifting over walls in her search. She's encountered many Soul Reapers but so far none had seen her, maybe because the energy her soul radiated was so cold or old that they naturally shunned her. Even though she had a general sense of where to go the stone the buildings were made of shielded the energy everyone expelled, and also adding to the fact that everyone is dead, with the exception of Kairi and Ivy it was difficult to detect. Nyx herself had never been an avid follower of the left hand path, she had always been in the light of salvation, not damnation. Erebus however was almost at the epicentre of the left hand path. He could follow the energy all beings of death expelled anywhere in the entire World, but he had difficulty in tracing the energy of the living but that is where his inherent power of a Guardian came into play, it eliminated that disadvantage. But she had one advantage she could use, Sora's scent. No matter how far or mangled his body might be his scent was so strong she could literally follow her nose. And so she did, her nose in the air like a bloodhound, tracing a path to the south.

And there, in front of some captains barracks she found what remained of Sora, along with almost a hundred Soul Reaper guards. 'Why would they guard a dead man?' And that is when Nyx caught the scent, a scent she recognised beyond a doubt: Magic of the vilest kind. When she looked over the Soul Reapers again she saw six figures crouched around a shaded form, who she knew was Sora. 'Evil! Necromancers! How dare you defile my son!' Even though Nyx thought these dark words she saw the majority of the Soul Reapers tremble as if in fright or cold. And then and only then did she realise there were five captains present, off to the side of the main group but present nonetheless. And from what she had glimpsed from Sora's mind they were Shunsui, Byakuya, Mayuri Kurotsutch, Ukitake and captain Unohana. 'Unohana is here to observe and nothing more, her heart is kind but she is cautious. Shunsui and Ukitake are here because they have befriended Sora and they do not want his corpse marred any more than it already is. But Byakuya and Mayuri care little for Sora, Byakuya may even hate him.'

With her pace unbroken Nyx strode into the square in front of the barrack, not even paying heed to the Soul Reapers cautioning her to stay back. But when Mayuri ordered them to apprehend her for questioning she did react, throwing all the Soul Reapers around her across the square with a wave of her hand. But she didn't stop, she kept on with her slow walk toward Sora. And as she walked she flicked her fingers toward the Soul Reapers around her and flung them away from her without a second glance. When only ten or so Soul Reapers remained the captains finally turned from Sora's corpse and the necromancers trying to revive him toward her, their Zanpakutō already drawn. But three of them looked uneasy, even hesitant in their stance. And to them she spoke. "Captains, stand aside, my quarrel is not with you, it is with the necromancers who are so rudely trying to awaken my son from a death Inferno gave." Ukitake looked surprised at her casual way of speaking to them but his Zanpakutō never wavered, something she was aware of. Unohana had failed to draw her Zanpakutō so she merely nodded and walked to stand beside Sora, observing. Shunsui, who had been lazing around anyway smiled at Nyx and opened his mouth with some intention to flirt or something but Ukitake silenced him with a glance. And to Nyx he spoke, his voice respectful and kind. "And who shall we obey? May I ask who you are, most kind lady?" At that Nyx couldn't help but smile, which she noted made Ukitake blush faintly but made both Mayuri and Byakuya scowl. "You may address me as Nyx, most fair Ukitake." Ukitake's eyebrows moved up toward his hairline but that is all indication he showed of being surprised. "Of course, goddess." And with that he bowed and joined Unohana. Without his friend for company Shunsui chuckled and walked away, humming a friendly tune as he joined Unohana and Ukitake.

Nyx turned to the two remaining captains who barred her way and asked them to step aside peacefully. But as per norm Byakuya refused and Mayuri was insulted about being treated as some second rate scientist. As Byakuya saw himself above speaking with Nyx he just stared at her, far too noble to glare. But Mayuri had no such right, he was as noble as any other common Soul Reaper, albeit the smartest residing in Soul Society. "You dare interrupt my work? The work of the greatest scientist who has ever lived? You dare keep me from creating history?" At that Nyx lost her smile, even though the smile she'd maintained was as real as the Darkness within Kairi. "What history? Using the left hand path to bring a soul back to life? Let me tell you, Mayuri , you would claim responsibility of something that has been perfected millennia ago, you stand on the shoulders of giants if you dare continue to research necromancy. It is a vile science, a science I should have never let come into existence but it does have its uses. On a very fine line you tread now, and you have stepped from that line, you have left the line Erebus drew. You would dare resurrect an immortal? How foolish." And with that she strode through Byakuya and Mayuri, slashing her left wrist open as she did. Nyx pushed the six necromancers away and broke the connection with Death they had built, which even she knew was shaky at best. "If you wish to take a soul back from Thanatos you must know what you're doing. If you finished what you started your necromancers would have died, their souls claimed by Death."

Nyx pulled the cloth covering Sora's body away and stuck her bleeding wrist over his body, letting her blood fall onto his corpse. And everywhere her blood dripped the damage done by Inferno was undone, his flesh and bones growing back. When he was healed enough for his body to sustain itself Nyx sank down on her knees beside Sora and pulled his head into her lap. She pinched his cheek and let a drop of blood fall onto his ruined forehead. "Sora, awaken. Death holds ye not, thine will unbroken in life. Life has need of you, death has no claim on you. Return..." Sora's eyelids twitched and he opened his eyes, revealing his blue-white eyes. He croaked and cleared his throat. "Death has no claim. My love does, I live for her. As well as my oath to protect the World." Nyx smiled and nodded, pressing her bleeding wrist to Sora's cracked and blackened lips. "Drink, you have no blood, my blood is pure and enriched with eternity. It will heal you." Sora nodded and clamped his lips around Nyx's wrist, sucking her blood into himself. But within a second he drew away, his body healing within seconds. "There we go. Immortal blood is fast." Sora got to his feet and Nyx followed suit, her wrist already healed and her missing blood replaced. But she did notice something odd about Sora, or rather a lack of something. "Sora?" She looked at him and pointed down, he looked and saw he had no clothes and blushed bright red. "Nyx clothes, please?" Nyx however was laughing, a bright sound that made birds burst into song from miles around. "No, I like it. Seems manly, going around naked. I'd never do it, I would be far too embarrassed but you, you can." When Sora blushed even brighter Nyx stopped laughing, already waving her hand up and down his body. And as his paladin turned mage clothes appeared she smiled, knowing what would surely come of this encounter.

Sora turned and faced the dozens of Soul Reapers around him, their fear burning his nose. But a few brave Soul Reapers cheered his return to life, even though they were pale as, pardon the pun, death. He turned to Mayuri and grabbed him, lifting him into the air and slammed him into the ground, the tiles giving way under the extreme pressure he exerted. "What did you think would happen? That I would be a pawn! A soulless body for you to control!" Sora raised Mayuri again and slammed him into the wall behind him, the wall caving inward as he did. At Sora's fury the very air began to crack with crimson lightning, the sky above becoming overcast. But when Nyx touched the arm restraining Mayuri he reigned in his fury, the weather clearing up with the lightning still wrapping around his form. He dropped Mayuri and kicked him, the man gasping for air and spitting up blood. Nyx touched him again and he turned toward her, her power raging to suppress his own. "He is not responsible, Byakuya and Yamamoto are. But even Byakuya is but a pawn, Yamamoto is but a pawn. But important pawns nonetheless." Sora nodded and turned toward Byakuya, his face smooth except for a faint snarl. Byakuya turned to flee but Sora moved into the path he'd chosen, stuck his arm out to the side and clotheslined him. Byakuya groaned and started to get up but Sora grabbed him from behind, digging his fingers into his neck. "Now now captain. Death isn't so bad. You get time to think..." But before Sora could impale Byakuya on his arm a cloud of purple dust engulfed Sora, slashing him from head to toe. "Senbonzakura."

Sora dropped Byakuya and moved away, the lightning covering his body flashing toward the purple dust briefly, knocking it away before it vanished. When Sora looked toward Byakuya again he saw that Byakuya had one hand wrapped around his neck and another holding the hilt of his sword. "You cannot win boy. I will not allow it." At that the purple dust, which he realised were Sakura blossoms, moved toward him. From personal experience Sora backed away from the mini razor blades, not willing to get torn to pieces even if he would heal within seconds. So he took the simple route, he used magic. "Mega Flare." A small flame appeared in Sora's hand and he threw it toward the blossoms hell-bent to kill him, when the flame touched the first blossom it exploded, the entire area consumed in torrential flames.

When Sora next opened his eyes he was lying in a circle of destruction, the tiles around him burnt and broken. He looked to his side and saw that Nyx stood as she had mere seconds ago, the ground in front of her and to the side of where she stood entirely untouched. But everywhere else Soul Reapers lay, their clothes torn and bloodied. But the captains stood far away, Ukitake holding very peculiar swords in his hands. The swords themselves were oddly shaped, the blade having a second piece looping from the middle back around toward Ukitake with a chain with five banners linking the two blades. But Byakuya hadn't been as lucky, he'd caught the brunt of the blast and thus had been burned and thrown through the wall behind him. And there he stood, or rather slumped, his body held up with help from the nice shadow of his body stamped into the wall. Sora stood up and brushed the dust from his clothes, finished with his revenge. He eyed Nyx and nodded. "Your right, a will truly is a great power to have."

Ivy stood in the corner of the room Yamamoto had lead most everyone into, her body hidden in deep shadow. Even though she had been rather surprised with the stretcher waiting for Sora's body she had said nothing, not willing to reveal she knew the whole ordeal had been staged. But from the death-glare Kairi shot Yamamoto she too had realised something was amiss. When five captains left the room she followed them with her mind, but when they had left the barracks their minds vanished, leading her to believe the stone was in some way enchanted. And so she listened to the captains debate in the small but airy room they were now in, few windows but what windows there were ten feet high. When the captains gave their condolences to Kairi Ivy noticed that even though their words were filled with emotion their eyes were not, leading her to believe the speech they gave had been prepared in advance. 'They care little for us. They used Sora to become strong and would have killed him nevertheless. But now that Sora killed himself they are clean of all guilt. Even if Kairi accused them of foul play she has no evidence except her conviction they planned to kill him but failed when he killed himself.' Ivy listened with an ear trained for any deceit or false claim but each word the captains spoke were true, even though they said they would dearly miss Sora. 'Riku won't be happy about this. We essentially just started a long and bloody war between Riku and the captains. And to be honest, I don't know which side would win. The captains have numbers and experience on their side but I know so little about Riku I wouldn't be surprised if he said he's immortal. Then again Sora said he'd been immortal once, I wonder if that meant something in this situation?' While Ivy had been wandering the path her mind wanted to travel the captains had in fact been discussing how Sora had died.

Kairi watched and listened as the captains held counsel, hearing the deceit behind their words when they said their condolences. When they began speaking about what had killed Sora their words became just and true. 'They really want to know what killed Sora.' Kenpachi mentioned kidõ while Toshiro mentioned a Zanpakutō. "The flames. Ryuujin Jakka." But at that the captain-commander opened his eyes and spoke for the first time. "No, Ryuujin Jakka is not responsible. His fire cannot burn that hot in such a confined place, it is not natural." At that Ivy snorted. "And any of this is natural? In all the years I've travelled the worlds I have never met a more screwed up bunch than you. Not even my home world was this insane." At Ivy's insult Kenpachi levelled his Zanpakutō with Ivy's chest and grinned. "Care to say that again. I didn't hear you, all this insanity was clogging my ears." At that Kairi shot Ivy a warning look but Ivy ignored her, a smile of such malice spreading across her face even Yamamoto looked uneasy. "Do not test me Soul Reaper. I could kill you all and go on a date later, I don't care." At that Kenpachi pressed his unnamed Zanpakutō against Ivy's neck and looked down its ragged length at her. "Care to explain? I didn't hear you." At that Ivy closed her eyes slowly and opened them again, scar-like marks appearing over her eyes while her pupils became mere slits and almost a silvery-blue.

Ivy eyes Kenpachi with her Changed eyes and regarded the situation. 'A brute, focused on offence while relying on his natural defence to keep him alive. A berserker, not caring about injuries or death if he manages to kill his target. Easy to fool but difficult to dodge.' And with that Ivy let her dormant hatred and rage bubble forth, her protector appearing with his frozen flame sword and mirror shield. Everyone, even Kairi, looked surprised at the sudden appearance but Ivy ignored them, her eyes focused on the brute named Kenpachi. "Bring it." And Kenpachi did, slamming into the shield with such force Ivy thought the unbreakable shield would in fact break. But it held, Kenpachi merely shoving them deep into the wall, pinning them in place. Kenpachi drew back for another charge but Ivy wouldn't let him. "Burn you fool, burn!" Ivy closed her right eye and let the blood-fire leak into the world. Her left eye started to bleed with her full power, damaging her vision more than when she gave the flames to her protector but with almost ten times the power. And as blood leaked over her cheek fire bathed the entire area with its cursed heat. But the flames were a part of her, not doing anything she didn't want. As such the flames that would otherwise burn everyone in the room doubled back on itself and headed toward Kenpachi, covering him with its liquid pain. And Ivy heard Kenpachi scream, his flesh consumed by the terrible fire. Even though Ivy felt Kenpachi's power increase exponentially she knew he could nothing against the fire, if she left it to burn it would burn for three days and three nights burning everything it touched. "You can't stop the fire! It is a part of me! And even if I die it will burn, until it has consumed everything it can! Give up and you will live!"

Ivy heard Kenpachi stop screaming and she briefly considered if he may be dead but instead his voice boomed forth. "I give up...for now!" And with those magic words Ivy used her left eye again, the blood literally dripping onto the floor. And the only thing that could kill the cursed fire killed it, more of itself consuming it as the original fire consumed the new fire. Within seconds all that was left of the fire was a few ashes and a brutally burned Kenpachi. "So, who's world is screwed? Anyone?" At that everyone, except Yamamoto recited the words like they'd practiced for days. "Ours." At that Ivy nodded, her left eye closed with the blood drying against her skin. "Good. Now tell me, why did you want Sora dead?" Everyone fell silent when that direct question was asked. "Yeah, who did want me dead?" Ivy turned to the source of the voice and gagged when she saw it was Sora, not dead and not burned. "Yo. Yamamoto, your necromancers suck. They almost killed me..." At that Sora and an unnamed woman laughed. "Very good Sora. Tempering your wrath with humour, if you ever rule a kingdom your enemies will die laughing."

Sora snorted at the sarcasm in Nyx's voice and fixed his glare on all the captains in the room, save Kenpachi who was out of it. When all of them save Yamamoto looked shocked to see him alive he ruled out everyone's involvement with the sole exception of Yamamoto. "You wanted me dead, I died. You wanted me alive and so I am. But Nyx brought me back, not Mayuri and his necromancers." When Yamamoto opened his eyes in seeming surprise Sora stuck out his hands and summoned his keyblades, Fenrir and Dark Nebula appearing. "Tell me why! I saved you! I gave you power and you repay me by wanting to kill me! How dare you!" At Sora's lack of control the room shook and the crimson lightning cracked around his body. But when Nyx once again touched him he took a deep breath and calmed down. "But I can't say I'm not grateful. I am, because I died all ties to fate were severed from my life-line." And with that Sora did what he'd thought of so carefully while Nyx had been busy getting his body back. He touched the marks on his coat and summoned his armour and wings, along with all the power his immortality gave him. His silver wings burst from his shoulder-blades and his silver armour covered his body, his body glowing with preternatural power. And the first thing he did was will the marks covering his coat onto his skin, allowing him to use it at a moment's notice. With all the wisdom and authority immortality gave him Sora looked at the captains and damned them. "You are alone in your fight. No human or angel or anything in between shall come to your aid when you require help, with all my power I will make sure you are never regarded with peace filled eyes, only eyes filled with hate and fear. This I swear, with my immortal blood binding my oath as law. You are damned, forever to be hated and feared, never to be trusted by any not of Death." Sora removed the gauntlet covering his hand and drew Dark Nebula over his palm, his blood pooling into his palm. "_Thus I have spoken, so it shall be!_" With his voice augmented with prophecy and Fate Sora sealed the destiny of every Soul Reaper, ensuring their future is filled with war and anguish. With the cut on his hand dripping blood Sora turned on his heel and stormed out the room, Nyx trailing behind him.

As Sora left the room Kairi looked at the woman who followed behind him, the black dress hugging her thin waist and billowing out behind her. 'Nyx is helping Sora. But why, she said she can't interfere with the course of the World. But now Sora isn't tied to the World so that probably means she can do with him what she wants.' But a shout interrupted her thoughts, a shout filled with rage. She followed the scream with her eyes and saw that it was Yamamoto, who was clutching his staff so hard the wood was crumbling and his knuckles were white. But what he screamed soon drowned out the irritation she felt for being disturbed. "Order all lieutenants and seated officers to gather in the main square! We go to war! Now!" At that all the captains in the room, even Kenpachi bowed and shuffled out of the small room, shouting as they did. When Yamamoto moved to leave the room Kairi realised the captains had forgotten about her and Ivy. And Kairi really did hate being forgotten. "You would try to kill Sora? Again? After you failed once you would try again. Are you stupid?" And in that second Yamamoto turned to her with a look of such rage she felt her skin tingle as if burned. But he said nothing, just shoved passed her and into the long corridor. But she went after him, watched him walk down the hall. "He'll kill you all! I know he will! And I can't stop him, you know I can't!" With her words still echoing around her Yamamoto turned around with a Zanpakutō in his hands, flames dancing along the blade. "Reduce All Creation to Ash Ryuujin Jakka!" A wave of power hit Kairi the likes of which she had never felt before, even the immense power Erebus had used against Riku was dwarfed. She was shoved down and she felt her body cease to function, the pure raw power destroying her. "Do not think we are weak! Do not presume we need your protection! We are strong and we shall never fall! If it kills all of us to destroy Sora we shall gladly die!" After a particularly large burst of energy Kairi was thrown back, someone catching her. "Head captain, he will win this fight. He bound you all with a word, do you really think you can manage to destroy someone who can do that? Listen to the voice of reason, he wants you to fight him!" Kairi looked up and saw that Ichigo had caught her, with Yoruichi talking. Yoruichi was standing hunched over but Ichigo stood tall, barely affected with the suffocating power Yamamoto was producing, making Kairi wonder how strong he really was. But another large burst of power broke her train of thought, making her blink her eyes when black spots blinded her.

Ichigo looked at the limp girl he held in his arms and toward the old man who'd done it to her, feeling his inherent protectiveness force him to act. He handed Kairi to Yoruichi and drew Zangetsu from his back, already preparing to do what he must. But Kairi grabbed his hand, looking at him with determination. "Not...your...fight." Her words sounded forced but determined so Ichigo nodded. He sheathed Zangetsu and stood up straight, feeling Yamamoto's power batter his body. At Kairi's insistence Yoruichi put her down and Kairi stood up, her right hand resting on her left wrist. With a swipe of her fingers she pulled the sleeve of her coat away, the bandages covering her fingers fading. When the bandages were completely gone the coat followed suit, leaving her with a black shirt with an arm warmer around her right wrist. With a flourish she summoned her keyblade and a pure white blade appeared. She looked at it oddly and swung it around before she shrugged. "Daughter, my gift to you..."

Kairi looked at the beautiful silver and white keyblade and heard Nyx speak behind her, when she turned she saw nothing but her keyblade warmed at the words. "Angelfire." The blade was a single shaft that flowed like fire burning on a wing, curving back onto itself as it burned toward the sky. The guard was a silver wing, the wing sprouting from a white jewel set into the pommel, the feathers curved gently until it would protect all of Kairi's fingers. The hilt was white with silver stamped like feathers into the white. The teeth of the blade were three crescent moons laced together, all three in some way touching the main shaft. The strange thing was the keychain was neither attached to the hilt nor wrapped around the guard, it was embedded in the white jewel, two wings folding together to cradle a heart. From the feel of the blade it was made for combat, even though it was so delicately shaped. And true to its name when Kairi swung the keyblade a shining blue fire enveloped the blade, a stark contrast against Ryuujin Jakka. And within the jewel adorning the hilt shone a light, light Kairi recognised as Primal Light. And as Kairi stared into this light her heart leapt, as if remembering something that was lost. And in that second Kairi felt something snap in her mind, like a dam holding back the flood that would inevitably follow. And the flood did come, in the form of a Light so pure it burned through her own Light, leaving her Light faint and weak in comparison. "Primal Light." Nyx spoke again and Kairi felt the truth of it in her bones, the Light flooding her heart, strengthening her. And with that power she pushed back with her own might, Yamamoto's suffocating might held back. And so she walked, her power becoming stronger and stronger with every step she took.

When Kairi was less than six feet from Yamamoto her power spiked higher than ever before, her very skin becoming charged with pure might. But her power was equal with Yamamoto's, neither fiery force overwhelming the other. And all the while Kairi had walked Yamamoto had looked at her, his face smooth of all emotion. When Kairi was within reach she slashed her keyblade toward Yamamoto but his Zanpakutō appeared in front of him, blocking her. She tried again with the same results. And so it went, Kairi slashing with all her might and Yamamoto blocking without giving even an inch. And the more Kairi tried the hotter her keyblade became, the jewel set in the pommel ablaze with blue light. Kairi sprang back and thrust her keyblade forward, pure heat moving with the blade. The wave of heat struck Yamamoto and he finally moved, his foot sliding back slightly. And that distraction was all it took, that simple flaw in Yamamoto's perfect control. Kairi's fiery power rushed forward and parted Yamamoto's, her Angelic fire slamming into him with unimaginable force. His eyes grew wide and he uttered a single cry before his feet slipped out from underneath him, Kairi's power pushing him back. And so he flew, down the long corridor they fought and out the window at the end with blue fire streaming down the hall.

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	12. A fallen angel and a last hope

**Next chapter: A fallen angel and a last hope.**

Sora walked with Nyx through the great labyrinth that made up Seireitei, not speaking but getting to know each other nonetheless. When he had cursed the captains he had felt a certain regret but that regret was easily forgotten in the anger he felt. "Nyx, did I do the right thing? Cursing them, I mean?" Sora cast Nyx a sidelong glance and saw her pale face and red lips, her dark blue eyes shining with life. She was beautiful, the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen and will ever see, her old blood pure and clean of all mortal weakness. "What is right and what is wrong matters little. In millennia this day will be forgotten, just another day among countless others. Now the Soul Reapers see this as a curse, forcing them to fight for survival but in time they will thank you for it, for in time a foe will rise who will challenge them, and unlike how it would be before you cursed them they will be prepared and willing, making that neigh unbeatable foe just another pest to destroy." Nyx's voice was soft, as if wary of anyone hearing them. They walked on for a while before Nyx stopped and turned back the way they had come, the piercing rock of Sōkyoku hill the only discernible landmark. "It is time." With these insignificant words a sound akin to a volcano erupting sounded from Sōkyoku Hill.

Sora flew into the air with his arms wrapped around Nyx and floated in the air, watching blue flames engulf a large portion of the 1st divisions barracks. And with the blue flames came a light, a silvery light that shone with supernatural strength. And in Sora's ear Nyx whispered. "Primal Light. It has chosen her." Sora looked at Nyx strangely and turned her in the air, looking into her face. "Her?" Nyx nodded, slow and steady, with her eyes shining. "Kairi." Sora looked at the blue flames again and saw that they were the same colour as the sky, the sea of Destiny Island. When he saw this the most terrible sense of longing filled him, a longing to walk on the beach and swim in the clear ocean. A longing he couldn't give in to, and with that knowledge came sadness, sadness all consuming and all engulfing. Sora blinked at the tears that suddenly burned his throat, his eyes. He swallowed them and let his sadness come alive, willing it into being. And as clouds gathered above his head and blue lightning cracked overhead he flew onward and upward, slowing when he saw the Soul Reapers gathered in front of the 1st division's barracks. But he flew on, until he was floating directly over the barracks, lightning streaming down around him with rain pouring onto him. He let Nyx go and she fell, looking at him all the while, a smile of understanding on her lips. Before she touched the ground her body was covered in liquid shadow, Darkness concealing her. She fell onto the marble tiles and the shadows dispersed, showing nothing but an icicle where Nyx had been moments before.

Sora opened his heart to his power and let it become him. The lightning he'd willed into being froze mid-strike and the rain froze, Sora's body glowing with white Light. He raised his hands above his head and used what he'd used once before, a power he knew was dangerous not only to himself but to the world. He tore the bonds Darkness had with the world and drew it to him, the Light absorbed by the clouds above him. The world's Darkness drained into the ground and the Light shone within the sky, illuminating everything within reach. And as the Soul Reapers below began to panic Sora used the Darkness, pillars reaching toward the sky and lightning arching down with all the Light travelling with it. And when the two opposing forces touched Sora saw the faintest splash of red among the Soul Reapers, but the colour was lost in the consuming shadow that rose from the earth to meet him.

Kairi ran out into the square just in time to see bolts of lightning touch the ground with pillars of black reach toward the sun. Beside her Ivy screamed for everyone to run while at the same time most of the captains ordered the advance. Beside her Ichigo and Yoruichi vanished, just to appear amongst the captains. The world went black and Kairi felt herself fly backward, just to slam into something on the way. She felt something grab her and she suddenly stopped moving, just drifting where she was.

When Kairi opened her eyes again she saw Ivy in front of her, keyblade flashing with Soul Reapers surrounding them. Kairi rose to her feet and heard the Soul Reapers scream something, but the ringing in her ears and her body's many aches and pains she didn't hear them. When the ringing stopped she felt her body heal and felt her strength return, Angelfire hovering in front of her with the jewel glowing dully. She pulled it from the air and felt Primal Light flood her body once more, the rush of power warming her cold body. She watched Ivy scream something followed by a flash of green light, next second the Soul Reapers slumped to the ground. Kairi ran forward but saw that the Soul Reapers were still alive, knocked out cold. "Kairi, you okay?" Kairi turned and nodded, already doing what she knew she must, walking through the shadowless Darkness. Ivy followed behind her, not speaking or making any noise at all, her eyes darting from place to place.

After what felt like hours, but what Kairi knew could only have been a few seconds or minutes Kairi and Ivy stumbled into a white space amongst the black. Kairi closed her eyes for a couple seconds to help them adjust to the bright light but Ivy merely narrowed her eyes and saw everything with perfect clarity. And what she saw excited her, excited her like only a battle could. She saw Sora fighting alongside Ichigo and Yoruichi against most of the Soul Reapers assembled in the square, with much fewer than before thanks to the enveloping Darkness separating everyone and Ivy thinning out their ranks whenever she happened across the strays. But Ivy visibly saw that three captains had not joined the battle, along with their troops. And the three captains were Unohana, Shunsui and Ukitake. Yes their weapons were drawn but they neither attacked their fellow Soul Reapers nor defended Sora's small force. But from the look of things Sora and co were handling it, Yoruichi weaving between the many bodies of the Soul Reapers and taking them out with quick blows while Ichigo used Zangetsu to thin them out. But what Sora was doing she didn't know. He stood with his eyes closed and his arms spread wide, sparks dancing along his fingertips while the Soul Reapers around him screamed in agony and misery, clutching at wounds that weren't there. 'Illusion. He's getting good at that.' While she watched Sora opened his eyes and swept both arms down to his side, an enormous quake moving from his feet outward. Pillars of stone burst from the ground and rose raggedly into the air, lifting the entire battle more than two hundred feet onto a plane of jagged stone. Everyone looked stunned for a few seconds, Ivy included before they continued with the battle.

While Ivy was staring at the battle Kairi had ran ahead, using her power as best she could without killing anyone. Once or twice she had to use her keyblade but these were brief, bloody seconds, in which she struck at areas she knew she couldn't kill. And behind her fell the many victims of her advance, all clutching wounds or unconscious. When a pillar of stone rose up beneath her she knelt down and waited for it stop, when it did she jumped to the next pillar and threw the Soul Reaper already there to the ground far below. Far above her Sora looked down at her, body covered in crimson Lightning with a blade of Light clutched in his hand, blood running down the edge and dripping down the pillar he stood on, dozens of Soul Reapers around him. But it wasn't the prospect of them killing him that filled her with fear, no, it was the look on his face: fierce and angled, like some angel of death watching the world burn. His face was lit from below, his cheeks hollow and his eyes bright, his mouth a thin line and his skin pale.

Sora looked down at the Soul Reapers and pointed Ultima toward them, the crimson lightning following his keyblade and wrapping around their bodies, making them grow stiff and fall over. But the captains who had chosen to stand against them, mostly Toshiro, posed a danger he hadn't expected from them. Kenpachi, who had been healed when Unohana had joined the fray, was fighting Ichigo while Yoruichi was fighting on par with Soifon, leaving Sora against Toshiro, Byakuya, Mayuri, Komamaru and the captain-commander. Most of the Soul Reapers retreated at their captains orders but some stayed, the ones more powerful than the rest, lieutenants and the stronger of the seated officers.

Sora clashed with Toshiro and shot him with a firaga before Toshiro could freeze him in place, slid to the side and blocked a slash from Komamaru. Even though Sora knew he had to defeat them he couldn't, his power almost perfectly matched against the captains. 'It's a good thing the old man isn't involved.' Sora looked out the corner of his eye at Yamamoto standing at a rock with his hands folded over his staff with his eyes closed. A cut to the side Sora focused on the situation at hand, dodging Senbonzakura and slashing at Mayuri's head in the same move. The scientist was much stronger than before, his Zanpakutō released, and his will to kill blazing. Most of the Soul Reapers who could have already released their Zanpakutō have, a few rare exceptions relying on the sealed form. But none of the captains had shown any hint of fatigue, none seriously injured, which led Sora to believe they were still holding back the majority of their power. Even Ichigo, his shoulder bleeding and his body battered didn't look in the least tired or weakened, merely continued fighting. So Sora did what every hero would do in his situation: he powered up. He drew upon Roxas's power and dismissed Ultima, Oathkeeper and Oblivion forming. Twilight filled his heart with its cold emptiness and he opened himself to it, his skin hardening to marble-like toughness and making his body faster, better, stronger. He slashed Komamaru shoulder to hip and he fell, his wolf-like face twisted into a snarl, but he merely dug his foot into the ground and slashed forward with his massive blade, cutting a narrow gash into Sora's shoulder. Sora lunged below the blade and grabbed Komamaru's shaggy neck with fingers of steel and swung, Komamaru crashing through a pillar of stone to stop propped up against another, his eyes closed and his body slack in the embrace of forced sleep.

A sharp pain to Sora's leg made him look down, ice cutting into his leg from behind. He slashed with Oblivion and the ice shattered, more forming around him. He covered Oathkeeper and Oblivion in flames and slashed down, freeing his leg. He jumped into the air to avoid the ice and got slammed into the ground by Mayuri. The scientist levelled his strange blade and leaned forward, fully willing to impale Sora. Sora slammed Oathkeeper and Oblivion together on a whim, the teeth of the two blades meeting with a flash of sparks. Mayuri shrank back when sparks showered his exposed skin and Sora rushed forward, swinging both Oblivion and Oathkeeper forward to cleave the mad scientist in two. Before he could however, pink blossoms slammed into his side and cut deeply into his skin, the blossoms completely covering his form within a second.

Blood flowed from Sora's mouth when Senbonzakura drove him into the ground, staining his already drenched skin red with his lifeblood. He rolled onto his side and felt Senbonzakura cut him again, tearing the jacket and coat from his back and leaving his shirt hanging in tatters from his form. But suddenly Senbonzakura raged faster before it drew away, leaving him in peace to writhe in pain. He opened his bleeding eyes and watched Ivy grab Byakuya from behind, her eyes mere slits as she snarled. She flung Byakuya away and he landed on a pile of stone far below, alive but broken. Ivy rushed to him and pulled him to his feet, even though he was far from healed, leaving him to blink rapidly as his vision faded. "I'm fine. Go..." Sora shoved his companion away and she nodded, drew her keyblade and went to help Ichigo against Kenpachi.

Sora slid to the side as Toshiro stabbed his ice blade toward him and moaned when the ice covered blade brushed against his ribs, making him bleed even more. He swung Oblivion and knocked Toshiro away, leaving Sora a moment to rest. As his body built itself up again Sora looked down at his body, the black marks covering his skin and suddenly hated what he had become, the uncaring mortal with immortal power unbound by Fate. Suddenly the world around him went grey and everything froze, Toshiro angling his Zanpakutō toward Sora's shoulder and Ichigo slashing down toward Kenpachi, everything frozen in place. And while everything froze Sora felt himself fall, only to find himself standing on his Station of Awakening. He walked forward and his image flickered, split and remained as it was. The image in the centre was as Sora had been mere seconds ago, or how he would be if he wasn't covered in blood and gore. He held Ultima and Dark Nebula in his hands, his face blank and his eyes filled with unknown knowledge. The image to his left was one of him as he had been when he'd been immortal, his hair slicked back to the middle of his back with silver eyes, silver wings and silver armour. The only colour in this image was the trail of blood tears running down his face, staining his pale and shallow cheeks. His expression was miserable, just as it had been when he'd been immortal. And the last, the last was one of him as he had been when he'd stepped onto the beach after his fight with Xemnas, his skin tanned and his hair a warm golden-brown. His eyes were a deep blue and held a joy he no longer had, a joy brought about by simply living. But in all three these images one thing remained the same, his keyblades touched, Ultima from the right hand image touching Ultima from the left.

Sora stared down at his three images, all three unique in its own way but all the same, it was him. It was as he had been, in every stage of his life. As he was now, his current route to preventing a war. To his immortal form when he'd ended a war and the image to his right, after ending a bloody war against Ansem the Heartless and Organisation 13's Xemnas. Every single depiction was a part of him, but if he hadn't known it was him he would have thought it was three different people, all three images so different from each other. 'Yes, each image is so different, and yet so the same. None of them are truly you, rather all three make up who you are. You are not who you are and yet you are, three different lives linked into one to make you who you should truly be.' Sora went over these silent words over and over but came up with nothing. "Huh?" A dry chuckle answered him, the first time the silent voice had betrayed emotion. 'To become who you are you must unravel each of your lives to find your true self, only then can you truly know who you are. You, like all others, are built up upon memories, people, dreams, lives...Who you are is not what you see but what you should be. And that is who you are, break down each life you have lived and fit together the parts that make you who you truly are.' Sora mulled this over but still got nothing. "Um...thank you?" Sora looked at his three split lives and again saw the resemblances, the differences. And then he suddenly had an idea, a childish idea but an idea nonetheless. He squinted and unfocused his eyes until the three images crossed, one body passing over the other. And then he truly saw the resemblance, the resemblance he hadn't seen before. "My eyes, they stay the same." He looked up at the Light high above and spoke his thoughts as he thought them. "You said I'm who I should be but I haven't yet found myself. What would happen if my three selves overlapped, would my weaknesses join and make me weaker or will my strengths stand together and eliminate my weaknesses?" The Light above throbbed slightly before Sora's panel shattered.

Sora fell through open space and eyed panes of glass falling with him, the sharp pieces of his heart breaking apart around him. 'So weak, yet so strong.' His body flipped and he settled down gently on another Station, one depicting him as well. But this one was different, his eyes were blue and he had black hair brushing his neck and back. He wore crimson and black armour without a helmet, a blacked out blade in his hand. The image was a combination of all three lives, Darkness mastered, immortal life, madness unleashed. But he had no corruption on his face or body, his face calm and filled with a peace he'd felt only after returning to the Islands. But he saw the subtle edge of experience in the shadow of his jaw, the depth of his eyes. It made him look older than his young age, but his large eyes and spiky hair made him appear younger as well. 'You are who you are. Incomplete but whole nonetheless. You define the power you wield and refuse to let it mould your life. Battle against yourself and you will become strong, if you let it define you it will consume and destroy you just as surely it has done countless times before.' Sora froze in place and looked into the Light, his mouth open in astonishment. "What?" The Light above flashed brighter before three ghostly images floated down to stand in front of Sora, three ghostly images that eerily looked like him but different. Each image was different but the same, each different in a way that defined the person, the immortal having Primal Darkness and silver soul, the Light that shone within the boy he had been mere days before, and what he was now, immortal power accessible to him in a mortal body, his Light mixed with Primal Darkness.

Sora faced his three selves and drew Ultima, already knowing he'd have a difficult time beating one of them, least of all three. 'This is a test of will, not might. To succeed you must be willing to sacrifice, but sacrifice in such a way that you do not die.' With these words the first Other, Sora from the Islands, rushed forward, Oblivion aimed for Sora's throat. Sora knocked Oblivion aside and slashed for the Others head, but he raised Oblivion and cut open Sora's cheek with a backhand blow. Sora slid back and spun around, Ultima aiming for a solid hit to the ribs. But again his Other knocked it aside and cut him, his left shoulder, and kicked him in the gut. Sora ignored the pain and pushed on, rammed Ultima's pommel into his Other's gut and punched him in the jaw. But his Other shrugged it off and kicked his legs out from under him and stabbed Oblivion downwards, aiming to gut him. Sora rolled to the side and kicked his Other's kneecap, forcing him to slide to his knee. Sora jumped from where he was on the floor and slashed Ultima through the air, wanting to pin his other to the ground with Ultima's edge. But Oblivion blocked him, keeping him in the air for a second before he crashed to the ground when his Other pushed him to the side.

Sora and his Other fought for hours, Sora not getting a blow in once while his other tore him to shreds. Sora had tried all manners of different techniques but none had worked, his Other had dodged every single one of them before he cut Sora with Oblivion. And never, not once, did his Other speak. Sora had always spoken to his opponent, even if it was to sass him, but he had never been silent during a fight, and that is what unsettled him. And so they continued, both trying to kill the other with unbridled will and power. But the stronger Sora's attacks became the stronger his Other's defence. And when Sora used a reckless move, moving straight toward his other with Ultima raised, Oblivion ready to impale him, he finally landed a hit. He slashed downward and buried Ultima in his Other's shoulder, almost to his sternum, and kicked him away. Sora's other fell to the floor and started coughing, a stupid thing to do when you have blood flooding your lungs and gushing from a ruined shoulder. Sora gagged at the sick stench of death that clung to his Other and marched forward, ready to finish it. But in a last, desperate act his other flung himself up and shoved Oblivion through Sora's chest, destroying his heart and spine in a single move.

Sora sank down on the panel beneath him and reached up, pulling his Other down with him. When they were both on the floor Sora grabbed his Other's throat in both hands and dug his fingers into the soft flesh. He pulled his hands apart and his Other's throat started to tear, hot blood running down his front. With a power only bloodlust could give Sora ripped his Other's throat out, the entirety of his neck exposed to the bone. Blood gushed from the gruesome wound and Sora threw the mutilated flesh in his hand away and reached into the cavity he'd made in his Other. He gripped his Other's spine and pulled, the bones breaking at his iron grip.

And there he was, holding his Other's spine in one hand and watching the life leave his Other self's eyes. When he was well and truly dead Sora lay down, Oblivion still buried in his chest and pulled it out, screaming in pain when the teeth of the ebony blade tore his flesh from his body. But before he could feel the regret he always felt about ending a life his Other's body stood up, an impossible feat if you don't have a spine or beating heart, facing Sora with empty eyes. 'You have succeeded. This is your prize...' With a sudden movement Sora's other pulled Oblivion from Sora's hand and impaled himself before breaking open his own chest, revealing a shiny pink spiritual heart. Sora's Other walked forward and pulled his own heart from his chest, before pulling Sora to his feet. With one motion Sora's other stabbed him again and shoved the crystal heart into his chest. With a content sigh Sora's Other stepped back and waited, within a second his body crumbled away into dust, Oblivion buried in the panel where he had stood seconds before. Sora gasped in pain before the pain of again being stabbed faded away, leaving him feeling warm all over. But as he stood the wounds he'd suffered glowed with bright Light and faded away, leaving his body pale and toned.

Sora stood where his Other had left him and saw the third life he had lived step forward, what he was at the moment. As his Other stepped forward he summoned Ultima and Dark Nebula to his hands, his red and black paladin turned mage robes rustling. With a motion unseen he rushed forward and slashed at Sora's head, Sora only blocking in the slightest. As Sora blocked Ultima and Dark Nebula with his own Ultima he stuck his left hand behind him and summoned his Dark Nebula in a backhand grip. He swung forward and found his slash blocked with both Ultima and Dark Nebula locked between the two shafts. With a feat beyond human but below average for Sora his Other crossed his two keyblades and cut Dark Nebula in two, the teeth falling to the ground with Sora holding the hilt and the last six inches in his hand.

Sora took to the sky and his other followed, grabbed Sora's leg and threw him into the ground, feeling his bones crack under the extreme pressure. But Sora didn't complain, he merely swore to do the same to his Other. He flew into the sky and drew upon his Heartless, his shirt and jacket falling to the ground in shreds. His wings burst from his shoulders and the bandages formed along with his ivory claws. He plunged his hand toward his Other and fully expected to kill him but his Other just caught his hand and flexed his shoulders, his own wings arching from his shoulders. But unlike Sora's mere Heartless power his Other used his Nobody as well, his white mask forming and his ivory claws crumbling. Sora ripped his hand away and buffered his wings to get away but his Other didn't let go, merely raised his other arm and wretched it upward, effectively breaking Sora's elbow and forearm. Sora screamed and lashed out with his foot, knocking his Other away and hugged his broken arm to his chest, feeling the splinters of his bones scraping together. But he ignored the pain and flew up, trying to buy himself time for his arm to heal. But he barely gained fifty feet before his Other flew into his path, a red orb clutched in his hand. Sora felt his eyes widen in alarm and tucked his wings to his body but he was too little too late, a wave of cold heat slammed into his body and threw him toward the ground.

Sora burst from the cloud of vapour the blast of energy had made and slowly opened his eyes, the ground rushing up to greet him. 'So much pain for so little.' Sora called upon the power he had, Roxas giving him the control needed to use his Heartless. His mask formed slowly and the black shadow formed on his arms. With barely a thought he twisted in the air and flared his wings, barely moving at all after that. He drew his hand in front of his chest and used a technique he'd thought about using and drew upon his magic, a spear of fire forming in his hand. He took aim and fuelled the fire with his Heartless might, flung his arm forward and watched the spear burn a path through the non-sky. But before the spear could find its mark Sora's other used another sphere of energy to explode against the spear, making it explode where it was. Sora watched as his spear split down the middle and release all the power he'd put into it, exploding into an inferno of torrential flames. A wave of heat and pressure slammed into him and pushed him down toward the ground, but he wasn't concerned, he was pleased at what he'd done. The spear was made in such a way that when it split it would create two fireballs, parallel to each other, which would pull anything and anyone within the funnel it made. As the fire died he saw his Other fall from the sky, his wings aflame and his clothing singed. But he never crashed to the ground, opening his wings long before he was in danger. But when he winged his way upward Sora noticed two things, his Other's mask was almost completely broken and that his Other's breathing was ragged and uneven leading Sora to believe blocking his spear had taken a great toll from his strength.

Sora clashed with his Other again, his arms and chest already stained with his blood from multiple shallow but long cuts. He shoved both hands forward and his Other blocked with his one arm, punching Sora in the chest at the same time. Sora snarled and drew his right arm back while maintaining his hold on his Other with his left. He formed a spear of fire in his hand and shoved it forward, so blinded by his rage and bloodlust that he failed to realise that he too would be destroyed if his attack hit. And for half a second it looked like his spear would connect but his Other shoved his left arm into the way and the spear slipped through Sora's fingers, flying upward. With an enormous flash and a deafening boom the spear exploded above them, shoving them both off their feet and backward.

Sora stood up from his edge of the Station beneath him at the same time his Other did, his mask crumbling and his Heartless power overused. But he was pleased to see that his Other had also lost his mask, leaving them both with barely a hint of Divine left. Sora discarded his wings for more power and ran toward his Other, both hands spread behind him streaming with black fire. But his Other had retained his wings, flying over the Station with a single blade of darkness clutched in his hands. In the centre of his Station of Awakening Sora clashed with his Other, claws pressed against blade, fire against Darkness. Sora pooled more power into his hands and felt his hands start to burn, burning brighter and brighter with all the power he had within him. His Other's blade cracked but held, a snarl on his face as he stared into Sora's blacked out golden eyes.

With a sound akin to glass breaking Sora's hands broke the sword restraining him and he plunged his hands into his Other's chest, his body so weak he couldn't find the strength to back away. But his bloodlust controlled him, drove him to kill. As such he hardened his hands into claws once more and started to rip and tear, his Other's ribs breaking long before he died. With a mighty heave Sora split his Other in two, half his ribcage in his left hand and the rest of his Other in his right. Sora dropped his own self to the blood-stained tiles below and fell over backward, exhausted from the extreme fight.

But just like before Sora's Other stood up from the ground, pulled Sora to his feet and took out his own shiny pink spiritual heart. In a movement like before Sora's other cut Sora's chest open and thrust his heart into Sora's, stepped back and crumbled away into ash. Sora moaned in pain before a sigh escaped his lips, his wounds healing and his scars fading away. And as he watched his second life, his immortal life stepped forward, silver eyes bright with power and bloodlust. His silver wings and armour almost glowed in the non-light from above, his hair the only thing of true colour radiating from him.

Sora drew Oathkeeper and Oblivion from his arsenal of weaponry and prepared to fight himself, already knowing he will surely fail. Of all the lives he's lived, his immortal one was the strongest. When he'd been immortal he'd had Primal Light and Primal Darkness at his disposal, the only time his body could have withstood the destroying effects they both had. Primal Darkness would consume his heart in seconds now, the only reason he had resistance before was because of his immortal soul, his soul enveloped his heart, protected and empowered it, shielded him. Primal Light would consume his body, causing his blood to boil and his flesh to become ash, literally breaking down each cell within his body. But Primal Light and Primal Darkness were the least of his worries now, when he'd been immortal he had housed the most destructive force in all of creation: Inferno. And Inferno he no longer had, for it had abandoned him just as surely as he'd died.

Sora took a step toward his death and saw his final Other vanish, only to reappear beside him with two blades of Inferno clutched in his hands. Sora raised both keyblades to block but his Other passed his guard and stabbed one blade through his side and the other through his hip before vanishing again. Sora swung to his left side just in time to block another blow, but his guard broke and he got stabbed again, directly through Oblivions guard and through his wrist, the blade continuing to graze his side again. When his Other vanished to appear where he'd stood but a second before Sora collapsed onto one knee, Oathkeeper and Oblivion driven into the tiles to keep himself from falling. He rose to his feet and dropped Oblivion, his entire arm consumed in Darkness and screamed, his raw emotion forcing power the likes of which he'd used rarely to come to his aid.

A bolt of Darkness shot from Sora's palm, his blood dripping from the Darkness in rivulets, giving even more power to his attack. The bolt stopped in front of him and grew, a sword forming. He gripped the blood blade in his hand and ran, his blood staining the tiles below, swinging his blade all the while. His blade met resistance but he pushed, his Other's blades moving slowly, blood running down his arms and dripping onto the blade. With a mighty heave Sora broke through his opponents guard and sank his blade into silver armour, the armour tearing as it slid into soft flesh. But for all his effort Sora barely drew blood, his Other's skin so reinforced with Primal Darkness it was like trying to cut diamonds. Sora pushed on the blade and slowly drove the blade deeper, muscle and flesh ripped to shreds. With a flash Sora's Other knocked him away with a fist, sending Sora flying across the tiles, breaking bone and tearing skin.

Sora stood up from where his Other had thrown him and dropped his blade of Darkness, the blade so mangled from his efforts to hurt his Other it had cracked down the middle and shattered, hundreds of splinters falling from the jagged edge. Sora summoned Ultima and Dark Nebula to his hands, Dark Nebula still broken, and dashed forward, fire and lightning cascading off his blades in waves. But before he could take more than a step his Other threw him with a wave of Inferno, in a technique he had invented. 'Raging Inferno.' But Sora had found the weakness in the move, in the sheer strength of the technique lay its weakness. He threw himself over the fire without touching it and stabbed Ultima downward, directly toward his Other's neck. But his risk was for naught, Ultima merely skid across his diamond hard skin without so much as a scratch. His Other ceased the consuming fire and drove both blades into Sora's belly as he sailed overhead.

Sora fell to the floor after his risky move and looked at both his unbreakable weapons, both already so bent and broken, and in the case of Dark Nebula useless. But as he stared at the bent and broken weapon known as Dark Nebula he suddenly had a though, a mad daring thought, and dismissed his broken weapons. He extended his hand toward his heart and drew upon a memory he had locked away from himself, which made it as if it had never happened, but it did and it still was. He pulled a thread of Heart from himself and pulled a keyblade from his very being, a keyblade incomplete, like himself, and wielded it. He gripped a black hilt and eyed the blade melded into one with the hilt. The blood-red guard so angular and rough, the teeth outlining a shattered heart. As the keyblade formed fully its destructive power repulsed him, but drew him as well. For in his hand he held the Keyblade of People's Hearts, the keyblade Ansem the Heartless had made with the incomplete hearts of the purest kind. But it was still incomplete, Kairi's heart still absent from its dark being. He raised the blade in front of his face and forced his will into its empty mind of Darkness and hearts. He broke down its defence and forced himself into its station of Awakening, just as a Soul Reaper would if they communicated with their Zanpakutō's spirit.

Sora looked at the Station he stood on, seven images shone on a black background. And each image showed a Princess of Heart, except that one was brighter than all the others. Kairi's shone with pure, unhindered Light, a radiant smile on her face. And standing at the very centre of this Station stood a cloaked figure, one cloaked in shadow and Darkness, Soul Eater in his right hand. The figure turned around and removed his hood, but instead of Ansem stood a Darkness empowered Riku, his eyes amber and his skin tanned. "You finally used my power?" Sora nodded and took up a ready position, fully prepared to defend himself. "No, I shall not harm you keyblade master. I wish to help you." Sora shook his head slowly but stood up, Ultima held loosely at his side. "How so?" With a chuckle Riku shrugged his shoulders and removed his coat, his body enwrapped in a suit akin to the one Riku had worn when he'd used Darkness, and walked forward until he stood mere feet from Sora. "I have been misused for the wrong reasons far too many times for me to remember. But never have I been used by the righteous, only the wicked. Wield me with honour, Master." Riku bowed and stuck Soul Eater into the floor between his feet, breaking the Station's Darkness, revealing a panel with Sora holding the Keyblade of People's Hearts in his hand and a rising sun rising above the horizon, showing the clear water of Destiny Islands. "You are my master now, Sora, Master of Darkness and vanquisher of Xehanort. Use me as you see fit."

Sora pulled Riku to his feet and dropped the shadowy keyblade held in his hand, leaving both hands empty. "I no one's master." Sora stuck out his arm toward Riku and held it there. "Partner and friend?" The keyblade spirit nodded his head and grasped Sora's forearm. "Friends." Riku stepped back and snapped his fingers, his body engulfed in radiant Light. When the Light faded away instead of Riku there stood a woman with silver hair and golden eyes, her face young and tanned. She wore what Sora would call a naughty schoolgirl's favourite. She had a short, very short, black skirt that covered about a third of her thighs, barely, and a baggy white shirt restrained by a silky black jacket that showed much of her neck and barely covered her stomach. Black stockings showed off her wicked long legs and black shoes adorned her feet. Her hair hung to her thighs and was held away from her face with a red silk baret. All in all it was the perfect outfit for school, it would get you sent home and half the guys who saw you would get instant nosebleeds. Which is what happened with Sora, blood gushed out of his nose and he blushed so brightly red paint would've looked pale in comparison. But the keyblade spirit smiled an angelic smile and her rosebud mouth parted to show even white teeth. She curtsied before she jumped forward and wrapped her soft arms around Sora's neck, rubbing herself against his chest, which just made his nose bleed all the more. "Sora-kun...you have a dirty mind." She whispered sweetly in his ear, her voice soft as silk and sweet as honey. He raised his hands from his sides and laid them on her back, stroking her hair with his left while his right just held her against him. They stayed like that for a few seconds before the girl stepped back, a radiant smile on her face. "I'm Tenshi."

While Sora pressed his sleeve to his nose to stop the bleeding he looked at Tenshi, or 'Angel', and found it fitting, even though she would in part be a damned creature never meant to exist. He clenched his right hand into a fist and opened it, his new keyblade forming. "What do I call you?" He addressed the keyblade in his hand, even though the soul of the blade stood right in front of him. The reason he addressed his blade and not the girl was, well, he was a guy, and as Tenshi was hot and very scarcely dressed he'd react like any guy would, like a starstruck idiot with his nose gushing blood and his thoughts ruled by his uncontrollable hormones. "Call me...Last Hope." Tenshi's words were so gentle and soft Sora did look up, to see her smile sadly with her golden eyes filled with desperate hope. "Last Hope." Sora nodded and raised Last Hope above his head, the blade glowing with black Light. But he did see a problem, powerful Last Hope might be, it was incomplete, least of all usable without an affinity. "What powers you? The Darkness or the Light?" Tenshi looked at him strangely and she tapped his chest with a finger. "Your heart. And all those around you. Emotion makes me strong." Sora smiled like the little boy he had been and touched his heart like he had years ago, when Ventus had joined him. But he still had doubts, Tenshi was incomplete, because she had never had Kairi's heart to become complete. But he kept his doubts to himself, but Tenshi's mouth twisted into a sarcastic smirk, as if she could hear his thoughts. "I may be incomplete but I am not bound to Fate, for Inferno released me just as surely he released you."

Sora looked at Last Hope, the black blade and red guard, how it so touched his heart to have freed Tenshi from the Darkness. But she was incomplete and that made her vulnerable.So he did what Riku had done, he used one weapon and bound it to another. Just as Riku had done with Soul Eater Sora held Last Hope in his left hand and summoned the broken remains of Dark Nebula to his right, both weapons already glowing in preparation. But Tenshi looked doubtful, even scornful at what he wanted to do. "Tenshi, Dark Nebula is pure, no Light. A keyblade of heart needs a pure heart, that much is true, but pure of what? Darkness? Light?" Tenshi looked doubtful still but she waved him along. "Let us be done with it." Sora nodded and did what Riku had done.

Sora dropped Dark Nebula on the floor and turned it into essence, the matter that made up its being, and it rose from the floor, a dark purple and blue liquid that flowed into his hand like mist. And this liquid he cupped in his hand, brought Last Hope closer to it and threw the glowing essence onto the dark metal, willing the two pieces of his heart into one. The liquid soul glowed brighter and brighter, soon blinding Sora with the pure Light. When he looked again he saw that the union was complete.

Sora swung Last Hope through the air and smiled faintly when a pure sound like a violin came from the edge. Lost Hope had changed, shifted, become complete. The blade was still black but the blade had grown longer by a foot or so and wider at the base of the blade. The teeth had changes as well, the teeth still outlined a heart but more had been added, both sides having teeth instead of one while the original had proceeded down toward the guard for another inch, jagged and angular. The new teeth outlined the same heart as the other side but was much more broken down, a jagged edge. The blade still lacked a keychain but it was definitely a keyblade, but could not be mistaken for a sword. The very feel of the blade beneath his fingers made Sora tremble in fear, such untamed power writhing within the being the keyblade embodied. Sora looked up when he heard a sound of pure joy, Tenshi laughing like a soul feeling pure untainted love for the first time, like a blind man seeing the sun. But she was different, she no longer had the corruption of Darkness within her. Her hair was soft ebony, her skin luminously pale and her eyes icy blue with a brilliant jade ring around her pupils. But the biggest change was the hope that shone in her eyes, her deep soulful eyes, a hope that extended past survival, past living, a hope to live a happy life. But she too had become wild and untamed, her hair writhing like snakes down her back and her eyes having an almost bestial edge to the soft blue and green. But when she looked at him she was the same girl as before, pretty and under control, her skirt so short and her legs so long. She smiled a gentle smile before she launched herself into his arms, her lips crushing his and her fingers digging into his cheeks. But as she kissed him in obvious enjoyment she cried, her tears leaving a bitter edge to the sweet kiss.

When Sora and Tenshi broke away from each other Last Hope was so hot with burning power Sora had to drop it, but he couldn't, the pain burned so good he couldn't let go. So instead he used the power, he sprayed the air above him and Tenshi with preternatural red flames, the flames writhing like something alive. But the more fire Sora used the hotter Last Hope became, until the time came when his flesh started to burn. And when that happened Tenshi took Last Hope from him and extinguished the fire, clucking her tongue all the while. "I'm not a toy, but I'm not just a weapon either. I am a part of you now, just as you are a part of me. The stronger our relationship the stronger we become." Sora looked at his burnt hand and nodded, knowing what Tenshi meant. "That's why I got burnt." It wasn't a question but Tenshi nodded, a thin smile forming on her lips. "Yes, but that was just a taste of what we can become. Raw physical pleasure is weaker than emotional sureness, but it's much easier to feel, to use. With time we will possibly become one, neither one of us being able to discern where one begins and the other ends. For example..." Tenshi cut her palm with Last Hope's edge and held it out to Sora, just to show him the cut. But he didn't look at her, he looked at his palm that was bleeding. "We are in sync. If I die you die and if you die I die. But if one of use were to, say...get annoyed with the other..." Tenshi slapped Sora across the face, her hand's outline red on his jaw. He bit back a retort and watched in wonder as the cut on his palm faded away, the pain gone. He willed his annoyance away and the cut appeared again. "Interesting." His mouth slid into a grin evil as could be and she answered it, a twin to Last Hope forming in her right hand. "Shall we?" Sora jumped back and threw a bolt of Light toward Tenshi, his evil grin replaced by one of anticipation. "Let's."

**Review! Please?**


	13. Anti's pride

**Anti's pride.**

**Dark he may be, cruel and evil he may be, even a Heartless has pride. This is the way a Heartless protects its pride.**

Sora and Tenshi fell to the ground, both so littered in cuts and bruises they knew they'd probably die from loss of blood before they died of laughter. But neither cared, both so joyous they just looked at the non-sky above, weak with laughter and fun. Yes, they'd cut each other to pieces but it was all part of the fun and yes, the pain had been real but neither had cared.

Tenshi had given the first cut, a shallow gash on Sora's neck. But the second third and fourth had marred her body, one on the right forearm and two on the chest, just below her short shirt. What surprised them both, however, was the fact that they were evenly matched, Sora had more experience and power behind his attacks but Tenshi had speed and knowledge of fighting. Tenshi was barely faster than Sora but that bare minimal had given her the advantage, because Sora was fast, extremely so, with only Xavier, a Nobody turned Keyblader faster than Sora and most everyone else. But Sora had never expected to be faster than Xavier, because Xavier had lived for millennia, inside of a realm where time meant little, where a second outside the Twilight Realm could be either a second or an eternity inside. And Xavier and his six companions had used that time wisely, training for millennia with little to no rest, before leaving for the first time. He is the true master of his body, his mind that of a Nobody and his heart that of a keyblade Master of old. His movements were those of a ghost, he swung his keyblade so fast it passed through obstacles, meaning he could not be blocked or guarded against. He could move great distances inside of a second with plenty of time to rest. But that was a fight Sora didn't want reminded of, the fight he'd destroyed Xavier, the fight where he'd lost control and almost killed Riku, Kairi and the six Nobodies watching. He'd destroyed Kairi's keyblade, or rather the keychain. So he got to his feet, slowly, and helped Tenshi to her feet, her wounds just as bad as his, because, as they had expected, when either of them had injured the other that same wound appeared on the attacker.

Sora delved himself into the flow of magic that had housed itself in the back of his mind, the cold energy washing through his veins. "Curaga." Green light floated from above and bathed both Sora and Tenshi in the soothing flow, both their wounds healing twice as fast as usual, because they healed the same wounds at the same time, thus healing one wound twice. But it still took more than a minute for all their wounds to heal, leaving Sora exhausted and pale, but he shrugged it off and smiled warmly. Tenshi answered his smile but a shadow crossed over her face quickly, leaving her looking cold and dangerous. The shadow vanished almost instantly but Sora noticed, he had been fighting for his life for the past couple years after all, so it was only natural that he noticed everything he saw in clear detail. "What's wrong?" Tenshi shook her head but Sora sighed and stared at her, stared until she squirmed under his sharp gaze. "It's just...I'm free, finally free of the Darkness." But Tenshi didn't look free, she looked stressed and tired, with shadows under her eyes. Sora however had never felt better, his spirits higher than they've been in years. And then he realised what was happening, the stronger he became the weaker Tenshi became, she was feeding him her spirit, her joy, her hope.

"Why?" Sora was on the floor, Last Hope against his throat, Tenshi holding the keyblade stock-still. "Because I must." With these words Tenshi drove Last Hope into Sora's chest, releasing all the memories and hearts within him. All of these memories, thoughts, dreams, and hopes floated around them, all of them streaming past the heart outlined by Last Hope's teeth. All but one small orb of blinding Light, Ven's heart. Tenshi turned Last Hope on its side. Locking Sora's heart once more. All the things that belonged in his heart went back to where it was meant to be, except for Ven's heart, which drifted up and down Last Hope's blade. And there it remained, the liquid gas seeping into the blade, making it whole, with a ghostly shade of Ventus standing by, watching. "Ventus! Keep your heart, you need it!" At Sora's plea Ven turned, the ghost of a smile on his face. He shook his head sadly, his image already fading away. "No...This is my destiny...Say goodbye to Aqua and Terra. Tell them I'm sorry, sorry that we couldn't be together again. Goodbye Sora." With a wail and a flash Ventus went up in flames, his heart fully consumed to make Last Hope complete. And so it was, the teeth expanding down to touch the guard, the opposite side flaring outward till about a third of the way down, broken hearts outlined in the jagged teeth. Even though Sora hated to admit it, the surge of power that the completion of the blade gave him was exciting, even intoxicating. But what Tenshi had done he wouldn't accept, not without a reason.

Sora launched himself up from where Tenshi had shoved him and knocked Last Hope aside with his arm, the cold steel slashing through his flesh with unreal ease, and grabbed her by the neck, his fingers digging hard enough into the soft flesh to make her bleed. "Why? Ventus had nothing...nothing to do with this. I swore to him that I'd help him get Aqua and Terra back and you killed him. You killed him knowing I'd kill you. Why!" Instead of responding in rage or fear Tenshi grew cold, her face pale as bone and cold as ice. "It was necessary." Sora tightened his grip even more and he felt Tenshi's heart throb. "Necessary? How?" Again, Tenshi grew even colder and paler, like she'd been carved out of a piece of frozen metal, her flesh not giving way as it should. She lifted Last Hope and swung, the blade shimmering as it moved through the air. And much to Sora's surprise the blade moved through his arm, moving through clothing and flesh like nothing, and right into his chest. He looked down at the blade and smiled, the wound neither bloody nor painful in any way. "Necessary huh? I see, to gain you must lose." Sora looked up from the blade of Last Hope and into Tenshi's eyes, her clear eyes that seemed to see right into his soul. "You planned this from the start? Didn't you?" At her knowing smirk Sora nodded, still not satisfied with what Tenshi had done but understanding why she'd done it.

Sora closed his eyes and waited for Tenshi to send him back to his body, the body fighting a fight against his immortal self. "Sora, I'm sorry." Sora opened his one eye and regarded Tenshi with disbelief. From what he'd seen from her behaviour and the few memories she had shown him having her apologise was a rare feat, a feat he doubted he'd ever manage again. "I'm not forgiving you." Her face became sad and a certain weakness dragged him down, further evidence that they were linked."But I understand. Tenshi, I'm sorry you had to kill Ven to make me understand." Her face brightened but Sora shook his head, letting her know she wasn't off the hook yet. "We'll talk again." Tenshi nodded and jumped forward, a naughty smile on her face. "Oh yes we will. Goodbye Sora-kun." She kissed him gently on the lips and he felt an enormous surge of energy flow into him, a side effect from any physical contact he and Tenshi shared. Before he could say anything, however, he was gone, to return to the battle he now had a chance of winning.

Sora opened his eyes and beheld Last Hope, the blade changing from what it had been when Riku had wielded it to what it had been seconds ago, the double edged blade becoming more powerful as it changed. Sora stood up from where he'd landed after delivering his useless attempt to cut his Other's neck open and held Last Hope in one hand, the other swimming with Light. He tapped into the flow of power Last Hope gave him and it flooded his being, healed his broken bones and mended his torn skin. He threw a bolt of Light forward, the bolt barely a spark as it travelled through the air at incredible speeds. But his Other just stood where he was, his arms lowered and a arrogant smile on his immortal face. But this was a new move, one Tenshi had taught him while they had fought. The bolt was incredibly weak, even for a novice keyblade wielder, but its strength lay in its speed, not its power. And with an experienced hand forming the bolt it could punch through a mountain with enough power remaining to demolish a reinforced steel building. The bolt of Light lightly touched Sora's Other on the shoulder, the right shoulder, and passed completely through, armour useless, Primal Darkness infused skin giving way under the bolt. Sora's Other looked down in surprise at his ruined shoulder, a fist size hole punched completely through his shoulder. But his arrogant smile returned when the destroyed flesh regenerated, new skin covering new bones and new muscles.

"Wipe that smile off your face you arrogant bastard!" Sora screamed these words and began bombarding his other with bolts of Light, every single bolt leaving a fist sized hole behind. Sora's idea wasn't to kill but to tire, knowing how much energy was needed to regenerate even a small amount of flesh, never mind regenerating multiple life threatening wounds at the same time. But Sora's Other didn't like being used for a bull's-eye, he darted from one side of Sora's Station to the other, making Sora's job of killing him that much harder. Sora increased the speed at which he launched the bolts but soon gave up when only one in twenty struck home, relying instead on Last Hope. He rushed forward just as the last wound on his Other healed, most of his armour gone, leaving him in loose pants and silver boots, the marks Erebus had given him in high relief against his stark white skin. When Sora delivered the first blow his Other didn't even block, simply allowed it to slide across his steel skin. But to his dismay Last Hope had a keen edge, keen enough to plunge into his skin with ease. Sora swung again and got the sick satisfaction of hearing his Other groan in pain as he cut him from shoulder to hip, Last Hope leaving a jagged line behind. Combine Last Hope's keen edge with the exhaustion that was inevitably knawing away at his endurance and Sora knew his Other would soon start blocking, if just to give his body a chance to recuperate.

Sora plunged Last Hope forward and a line of sparks danced on the edge as a pure white blade of metal blocked it, halting the deadly edge a hairs-breadth from his skin. Sora pushed down harder but Last Hope remained where it was, proving to Sora even if he wore down his immortal Other to near exhaustion he still wasn't strong enough to end it, to finish the fight and claim his prize. 'How powerful was I? I don't remember having this much stamina or such defence. Truth be told I never fought for more than a minute at a time when I was immortal and in that time I never defended, I just let my body regenerate. But that, it seems, was a mistake, a big mistake.' Sora swung Last Hope again and his Other raised his sword and slashed at Last Hope, sending it veering to the side, leaving Sora open. Sora stepped back before his other could attack but a burning pain seared across the centre of his chest, driving him to his knees. He looked down and saw a star, a star branded into his chest. He touched it and it spurted blood, black blood. A pain in his back told him the star was branded on his back as well, leaving him puzzled. But when he cast his Other a look he understood. His Other's left arm was stained red. 'He stabbed me. He impaled me on his arm without me seeing or feeling it.' But Sora too could regenerate to a certain point, though it exhausted him easily. And so he did, the hole in his chest faded away to leave a patch of silvery skin, the only indication that he'd almost died.

Sora rushed forward with Last Hope washed in flame, the blade a glowing white with heat. Sora slashed down and his Other backed away, dodging the strike. But the wave of heat the blade expelled slammed into Sora's Other, burning his chest slightly. Sora slashed again and again, each time bathing his Other in blood red flames. And for each strike his Other healed less and less, his stamina finally at its end. With a last act of desperation Sora called his mask, the mask Anti and Roxas had given him. As it formed he felt Tenshi probe at his heart, feeding him a sliver of power not unlike that of Inferno. Which meant the power was old and forgotten, its age making it potent and dense, suffocating him. He felt something flow over his body and he looked down, not really surprised to see his clothes changed once more. Instead of bandages he wore crimson bands, bands that pulsed with every beat of his heart, stretching over his muscles and bones, giving him protection. Instead of the blackness that normally covered his arms and shoulders the same red bands appeared, stretched thin and stiff, black marks not unlike those on his mask decorating the red. But unlike every other time he'd used his mask his keyblade remained with him, his right hand lacking the red bands that covered his left. His left hand however, was encased in what looked like a gauntlet, beast-like claws stretching from his knuckles. His wings didn't appear, leaving him able of more nimble movements and giving him more speed.

Sora drove his foot into the tiles beneath him and they cracked, his muscles contracting so fast they literally shattered everything around him. He shot forward, faster than his immortal self, and lashed out with Last Hope, the blade singing a pure note that unsettled and excited him. Last Hope eased into Sora's Other's chest, right where his heart should be, and Sora twisted, already bringing his left hand forward to finish what he'd started. But his left hand never reached the intended spot, Sora's Other knocking it aside with his arm, Sora's arm veering to the side and plunging into his Other's shoulder. Sora drove Last Hope in deeper and pushed down with his left hand, the claws extending from his knuckles tearing his Other's right shoulder to shreds. Before his Other could escape from his grasp Sora let Last Hope go and opened his right hand, Darkness swimming in his hand and in his eyes. He pushed his hand forward and his Darkness riddled hand touched his Other on the forehead, staining the skin black. But staining his skin wasn't Sora's intent, he drove his Darkness into his Other and had it rip, tear, feed. And so it did, his Other's silver eyes turning golden and his skin becoming tanned as his hair turned grey. Now that his Other was turned to the Darkness Sora let go and gripped Last Hope's hilt once more, pulling it from his Other's body just as his Other collapsed, his form engulfed in Darkness.

Sora looked down at his Other and did what Tenshi had done with him, he drove the tip into his Other's heart and unlocked his heart, every memory and thought spilling forth into the world. But Sora ignored all this, instead drawing the silver orb that was his Other's heart into the broken heart that made up Last Hope's teeth and turned Last Hope on its side, locking his Other's heart from his body. And upon this heart Last Hope feasted, the silver orb floating up and down the black blade, the silver light draining into the blade as Last Hope fed. But when the heart was fully consumed Last Hope didn't change, it had been completed when Ven's heart was absorbed into the black steel. So instead Last Hope merely turned the heart into energy and gave it to Sora, healing his wounds and replenishing his heart's Light and Darkness, leaving him as fresh as when he'd first entered the fight. And as his Other faded into the eternal darkness of Death Sora purified the Darkness, leaving his Other nothing more than a pile of ashes with his sword stuck into the tiles beneath the ashes.

With a feat impossible Sora's Other rose from the ashes, barely able to call what he was alive. Most of his body was grey, his ash barely keeping him together. But like the other two times Sora's other drove his sword into his own chest and pulled a shiny pink spiritual heart from his being, something that should have been impossible since Sora had stolen his heart, and like before cut open Sora's chest and shoved the heart in before turning to ash once more.

Sora looked up into the Light and drove Last Hope into the tiles beneath him, the tiles shattering but holding the blade upright nonetheless. 'You have succeeded. You have faced yourself and defined the power without letting it define you. You have sacrificed much and survived. You are incomplete but whole, you are who you should be. Congratulations, Sora Master of Destiny.' Sora's new title rang through the air with a strength not possible in words, the very air charged with static and humming. All around Sora spheres of differing colours formed, each orb expanding to show a different person, each having armour and a keyblade. 'The Masters of old. Their legacy has long passed, their honour disgraced by those who seek power over others. Restore their honour by living.' Each Master of Old raised their keyblades, each keyblade different but the same, the old and forgotten weapons aglow with power. And from all around came the sound of chanting, the Masters chanting. The words were strange, as if the Masters couldn't pronounce the words they spoke correctly. But Sora understood. He sank down on his knees and bowed his head, his hands resting on Last Hope with his eyes closed. "Honour in death. Dignity in life. Glory in the tales of others. This I swear." To seal his oath Sora cut his palm on Last Hope's blade, letting his blood pool in his palm before letting it drip on the floor beneath Last Hope. With a sound of thunder Sora was raised into the air, his arms thrown back and his knees bent with his head thrown back.

Sora opened his eyes and looked at his body, at the armour the Masters of Old had given him. His chest, arms, legs and hips was encased in armour. His chest was adorned with a breastplate, from his neck arching down to under his armpits it was red, with crimson bands extending to his back, connecting to the armour encasing his back. The rest of his breastplate was silver, three plates from above his hips overlapping downward, with three plates beneath the red, protecting his shoulders, heart, lungs and most everything else. Red armour encased his hips, moulding around his hips and between his legs, two black plates providing extra protection to the side of his thighs. His knees had silver plates over them with red plates sprouting from the red almost to his ankle. His feet and ankles had black boots with silver soles and silver spurs around his ankles. His entire body except his head was covered in scale-plate black armour, the aforementioned armour over the small black plates. His forearms had red forearm guards with black leather gloves on his hands, fitting snugly to give him a good grip. His head, random as it was, lacked a helmet, with his black hair tied back with a leather strap at the nape of his neck, leaving enough of his fringe to flop around against his lips and jaw. When he looked in a mirror later he would see the same face that adorned his Station of Awakening, blue eyes making him look innocent while the shadow of his jaw and the depth of his eyes making him look experienced and dangerous to people who didn't know him and kind and caring to those who did. When he looked down at his Station he saw that he looked the same as his image, with the blacked out blade revealed, Last Hope clutched in his hand.

Sora looked up at the Light above and laughed. "You knew! You knew I would survive! And you knew what the Masters would give me!" And he laughed, a laugh devoid of cruelty and evil, filled with kindness and gentle strength. A laugh he'd have had directly after he returned home to his island, to his mother, to Kairi... 'Yes. I knew, and I know the outcome of this war and every other. Good luck, Sora, Master of Destiny.' Sora nodded his head and pulled Last Hope from the tiles, swung it over his shoulder and waited.

A flash of Light made Sora open his eyes, seeing the grey world around him once more. Within a second colour returned to the world, along with movement and sound, Toshiro's Zanpakutō moving toward his shoulder and Ichigo's Zangetsu biting deep into Kenpachi. Sora summoned Last Hope and knocked Toshiro's blade away before enveloping him in a burst of red fire. As Toshiro fell through the air Sora saw him look at him with a new look in his eyes, a look of respect and regret. "Bankai!" Toshiro shouted the words but they had no meaning to Sora, or Ivy for that matter for she too had stopped fighting when Toshiro had shouted the words. But the answer came soon enough, a burst of ice cold air hit Sora in the face and he blinked. When he opened his eyes again Toshiro had changed, ice had covered his form very strangely, like a dragon settling on his body. An ice tail hung from his back and his hands were covered in ice, his left a dragon claw and the right a dragon head, glowing red eyes as well. From the dragon wrapped around his form burst massive ice wings, at least twice the size of Toshiro himself. "Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!" But a change in appearance wasn't what surprised Sora the most, it was the incredible wave of power that erupted from Toshiro, at least six times from what he'd used until now. Three ice flowers floated above and behind him and as Sora watched one-fourth broke, leaving a total of eleven pieces remaining.

Sora watched as Toshiro approached him from the air, his Zanpakutō freezing the air as it moved. Toshiro dove toward him and Sora raised Last Hope to block, but when Toshiro slammed his Zanpakutō into Last Hope his knees gave way, the pure wave of power Toshiro used overwhelming. But Sora had faced tougher odds, had faced one mere minutes ago, so he ground his teeth and pushed. Toshiro looked genuinely surprised when Sora threw him off, leaving him floating twenty feet away with his hands clutching tightly at his blade. Toshiro charged him again but the white-haired youth looked to the side and stopped, giving Sora enough time to act. Sora jumped back just as a giant sword slammed into the ground he'd been standing on, Komamaru's sword held against the ground in the same way. "Bankai. Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō." As Sora watched Komamaru glowed a bright red and a giant formed behind him, his monster body in exactly the same position as Komamaru's. Sora took a step toward Komamaru and his giant but pink cherry blossoms slammed into his side, driving him to the ground and dragging him dangerously close to the edge of the stone cliff. Sora jumped up out of Senbonzakura's reach and groaned when he saw Byakuya below, his clothes dirty but otherwise unscathed.

So there he was, Sora against three captains, two in Bankai and one in Shikai, alone and without help when a crimson fireball landed feet from Byakuya, Ivy floating behind Sora with her left eye bleeding. She looked at Sora and grinned, completely unscathed except for a single scratch on her cheek which she quickly healed. She pointed at Komamaru and her grin grew colder and darker, her eyes spewing blood as her protector formed around her, a sword and shield his weapons. Ivy didn't even spare Sora a glance before she dove down toward Komamaru, her keyblade pointed at his chest. Ivy and Komamaru collided with a crash, both figures protected by their weapons. Ivy had the advantage in defence and power but Komamaru had speed and experience. They clashed three times before they fell toward the white ground far below, both still clashing despite hurtling toward the ground.

Sora nodded in a gesture of thanks Ivy couldn't see and swung Last Hope onto his armoured shoulder, a small grin of excitement forming on his lips as he regarded the situation. Ichigo was fighting Kenpachi, Kairi was fighting the lieutenants and much farther below, Yoruichi was fighting on par with Soifon among the rocks and the few captains not fighting at all looked at the various fights in anticipation. "What a pickle. No one can take Byakuya. This is a problem. But talking to myself isn't helping the situation or my sanity." Sora shut his mind off from his mouth, and possibly his sanity, and fell to the cliffs below, Senbonzakura rushing up to meet him and Toshiro swinging his sword through the air with an ice dragon dancing on the edge. Both Senbonzakura and an ice dragon slammed into Sora before he could touch the ground, freezing and cutting him, but he merely shrugged off the injuries to his face and bathed the air in front of him in lightning, clearing his way of Senbonzakura and the ice. He was semi-confidant that Senbonzakura couldn't kill him now that he had his Master armour but Toshiro could freeze him in place, leaving him unable to fight or defend. So Sora acted like he would if he was completely vulnerable, he dodged every strike and used his speed as his ultimate defence. And that gave him a subtle advantage, he moved through and around Senbonzakura without getting a single cut. But the ice dragons Toshiro threw around like nothing chased him around, twisting and twirling through the air like they were attached to him. And the only way he could stop them was to destroy them, which made them explode where they were, freezing everything around them. So when his armour was covered in razor sharp icicles Sora started to use Last Hope's fire, even though it took most of his concentration and used a steady stream from his stamina.

Sora bathed Toshiro in his red fire and Toshiro brought his Bankai's ice wings forward and blocked him, the wings neither melting nor cracking. While Sora did that Byakuya had moved to the side and directed Senbonzakura toward Sora's right side, having Senbonzakura slam into him and force him away, stopping the stream of fire. Sora jumped from Senbonzakura's reach and levelled his blade toward Byakuya, a sphere of Light forming on the very tip. When the sphere was of sufficient size Sora released it and it flew forward, moving toward Byakuya slowly, but having so much power it was sure to kill any weaker opponent. But Byakuya wasn't weak or foolish, he didn't try to destroy the orb or try to absorb it, he used a flash step and appeared behind Sora, Senbonzakura in blade form once more, and stabbed him through the belly, his Zanpakutō appearing directly above his sternum, and twisted the blade. When Byakuya had done as much damage as he could he moved away, an arrogant edge to his face, and appeared on the ground once more, certain that the wound he'd given Sora would be enough to end it. And so it was, Sora fell from the sky and crashed into the stone below him, his chest a gaping hole, blood seeping into the stone beneath him.

Sora looked up at the non-sky above him and realised something, that when he'd destroyed each past life he'd sacrificed them to survive, the powers he'd received now dead and buried with each of his corpses. But now he had much more, he had Nyx and his friends love and support, he had a brother in Roxas and Riku, a companion in Tenshi and Ivy, a caring soul mate in Kairi, a heartless bastard as his soul. And that heartless bastard came to his aid now, Anti filling his body with Heartless power. 'You fool, you die from such a puny wound? You give up against these odds? You can but I can never, I may be a Heartless and I may not care about anyone else but I care about my honour, my dignity, my brother. You are my blood now, you are my brother. And no brother of mine will ever give up without a fight, I won't allow it.' And with these oddly consoling words Anti began to use Darkness as it had never been used before, to heal a broken spirit, to fight a noble fight.

Sora looked up from where he'd fallen and looked around him with glowing golden eyes, his skin black as night and his mind cold with hatred. But unlike all the other times he'd gained Anti's form his heart remained pure, pure with Darkness but pure nonetheless. He looked into Toshiro and Byakuya's eyes and screeched, his voice high and filled with hatred. His heart pulsed with Dark power and it flooded into the world, flowing around his form, forming wire thin strands that snapped at the air. He rose into the air and his now inherent hubris raged, the tendrils of Darkness wrapping around Byakuya and drawing him closer. Sora reached out to Byakuya and gripped his neck in one hand and squeezed. "Not so proud now, are you?" Sora's voice had a rough growl to it that made him sound wild and evil, which he was at the moment. Even Byakuya, whose arrogance made him immune to almost anyone's attempts at threats, shivered in fright, his eyes wide and staring. Sora laughed at the display of fear, his tendrils of Darkness feeding on the dark emotions, and used his Darkness to rip and tear, Byakuya's blood absorbed into his tendrils. Byakuya thrashed and bolted but Sora didn't move, like he'd been carved from living stone, except for the dark laughter that rolled and roiled from his mouth. The tendrils of Darkness fed on the blood Byakuya's flesh expelled, the tendrils becoming a dirty red and bloated. But the more they fed the more blood they wanted, until they left Byakuya a mere husk, his breath soft and fluttering. Sora threw Byakuya away and turned his attention to Toshiro, who had been looking on in fear, and pointed at him with a clawed finger, his tendrils rushing forward at the prospect of more blood.

But Sora's tendrils never touched Toshiro, a wave of consuming fire reducing them to ash. Sora looked to the side and saw that Yamamoto had finally joined the fight, his staff gone, replaced by his most ancient weapon. Sora's heart grew cold at the prospect of fighting Yamamoto, not in fright but in cursed glee, his eyes glowing all the brighter and his fangs piercing his lower lip. But Yamamoto just looked at him, Ryuujin Jakka held to the side in obvious boredom. If there was one thing Anti hated more than Light and love it was being ignored, and that hate gave Sora more power, more power than his body had ever felt. And that power is what drove him to his knees, this self-same power tearing his flesh apart. But for each patch of skin lost it was replaced, the new skin darker than before, with a deep red marking it intricately, showing the signs of Primal Darkness. But Sora's new skin absorbed Primal Darkness, grew more stable and more enduring, giving him skin harder than diamonds. Sora's tendrils drew back into his body and left him defenceless but they were soon replaces by many small waves, crashing through the air like they would on sand and sea. Sora felt the skin on his back ripple and he looked back, seeing two shadowy wings flare into existence behind him. But they were different to all the different types of wings Sora has had before, they were the wings of an Archdemon, the feathers razor sharp scales and the ridges ebony spikes. Sora stood up and his wings flared behind him, blanketing the sky in shadow, his Dark Tide aglow with Primal Darkness.

Sora turned his eyes to Yamamoto and walked forward, his wings lifting him off the ground to let him hover forward as he chose, his wings neither raising a breath of wind or a whisper of sound. But Yamamoto didn't make it easy for him, the old man's body radiated a heavy, fiery, powerful wave, pushing Sora back as he hovered forward. But Sora's Dark Tide shot forward, forming fangs of Dark water that grabbed at Yamamoto each time they struck. When Sora's patience ran out and his bloodlust peaked his wings spread out wide behind him and pushed down, launching him past Yamamoto with a single flap, which allowed him to reach out with his one arm and throw a wicked punch fast and strong enough to split a mountain in half toward Yamamoto, but the old man merely raised his arm and caught his punch with no trouble whatsoever. And that one punch told Sora all he needed to know, that he could never, not in this life or the next, hope to stand against Yamamoto without help. But he had help, he had Ivy and Kairi, his brother Anti and the Masters, he had his own soul and his own hands, he had his own will and his own Fate. He could battle Yamamoto and win.

With these fervent thoughts Sora turned in the air and dove back toward Yamamoto, Dark Tide slashing with his own arms aflame with black fire. He threw his black fireballs and Darkness lashed out, slashing at Yamamoto, each wave sinking deep into Yamamoto's chest. Sora's fireballs struck Yamamoto and he burned, but Yamamoto's affinity was fire and he used Ryuujin Jakka to burn Sora's black flames. Sora drew back and used the spear of magic he'd used against his own self, the red spear fuelled with Primal Darkness until it could barely keep itself in one piece. Sora winged his way up into the sky and looked down, the stone cliff so far below, with all the fights taking place filling his eyes with vivid detail. Ichigo still fighting Kenpachi, his body already layered with deep gashes. Ivy finishing Komamaru with a flurry of cursed fire from her eyes. Kairi fighting all the lieutenants, her motions smooth and lithe, like she was dancing instead of fighting, her Shadow hand aglow with Inferno and her keyblade stained with blood. Yoruichi fighting Soifon, flower-like marks covering her body as they too danced with death. 'I can't use this. It would kill them all, including me.' Sora looked at his spear with amber eyes and crushed it in his hand, the spear shattering into shards that would explode if they were touched. Sora dropped each shard and bathed them in fire, each shard exploding with a sound akin to a mountain splitting in half. He was thrown higher and his flesh chilled in the frigid air and he saw the many fights below halt as everyone looked up at the red and black fireballs before being forced to their knees by the wave of pressure and heat.

Sora looked down, way way down, and created another spear, this one razor thin and meant to impale rather than implode. But the spear had destructive power, it was just subdued, the resulting explosion exploding in a small, concentrated fireball instead of exploding in an all consuming, all destroying wave of infinite flames. He looked down at Yamamoto and bid him good luck and farewell, for the spear had enough power in it to destroy a sun, least of all an old man. Sora whipped his arm downward and released the spear, the silver shaft glittering and the blade black as pitch. Even though Sora threw the spear with all his strength he was very far up, so it only touched Yamamoto three seconds later, the pressure wave the small explosion exerted on the air touching him gently as he flew down, his Archdemon wings close to his body, trailing waves of Primal Darkness in the air behind him.

**Review! Please?**


	14. To break a shattered heart

**Next chapter: To break a shattered heart.**

**Ivy, I think, is one of the few characters I created that I can actually relate to. Not that I'm an all powerful Keyblade master with power akin to an Uchiha from Naruto but in her emotional instability. Even though I'm not prone to killing the things that annoy me I tend to suppress my emotions, just like Ivy uses her hate and rage to her advantage.**

**Enough ranting! Back to the misery of publishing this!**

Before Sora was even halfway to the ground the exhaustion of all the fights he'd been in finally slammed into him, his wings fading and his Dark Tide fading, his black skin paling and his eyes becoming blue once more. And in his mind, very faintly, Anti spoke to him. 'You fought well, with honour. And you never gave up. Fare thee well...brother.' Weak Sora may be, he was not useless or defenceless. He allowed himself to fall until he was mere seconds away from the ground, and then and only then did he start gliding. But when he reached the ground an ice dragon roared and winged its way toward him, reminding him that even though the most powerful Soul Reaper in existence was defeated the rest were still mainly alive and kicking. So Sora hesitantly brought Last Hope up and blocked Toshiro's ice dragon, his armour freezing and his exposed skin chilled. Sora used Tenshi's fire to burn the ice and skid back, his breathing ragged and his vision lined in blackness. When he focused on the situation at hand Sora had difficulty in lifting his keyblade, let alone fight. But his spell taming the worlds Darkness and Light came to an abrupt end and the influx of time and life he'd stopped so briefly flooded in at once, blinding and deafening everyone, bringing all the fighting to a halt. But once everyone regained their wits and their senses they continued fighting, but a blood-curdling scream from beyond the courtyard made them all froze again and turn to the noise. Because Sora and Toshiro were pretty much at the very top of the stone cliff they could see what happened first, which also meant their hearts sank first when they saw the thousands upon thousands of Heartless flooding Seireitei just outside the courtyard they were fighting in. But among the Heartless were strange creatures, holes in their chests and white masks covering their heads. From beside Sora Toshiro whispered "Hollows" and Sora understood. "The Heartless and the Hollows are the same, neither have hearts and they both have an insatiable urge to feed on hearts and souls. They felt our power clashing and they gathered, but in such a large scale no one could stop them, in such large numbers the worlds natural defence was overpowered."

Sora looked down the cliff and saw his companions look up at him in fear, both Ivy and Kairi so weak from fighting they too were too weak to defend themselves against such numbers. He signalled them to join him and they did, Kairi lifting herself with her Light and Ivy becoming one with Darkness, plopping out of the ground beside him. Ivy's eyes were bleeding but they shone with excitement, not even showing any discomfort at the prospect of being semi-blind for hours to come. But that she kept blinking made Sora think that her eyes were bothering her more than she would want to admit. She looked at him in obvious glee and smiled a dark smile, her face angular and shadowed with cruelty. "We can't stop them. But it'll be fun to try, don't you think Sora?" Sora himself couldn't stop the smile that was tugging at his lips, but he did regard the situation quite seriously. "Yeah, it will be fun. But we will die, unless..." Sora reached into the fold his breastplate made and pulled a piece of cloth from the robe he wore underneath his armour, the soft fabric burned and torn but well looked after. "Yeah, that'll work." But Sora made no indication of his plan or even what he was talking about, his eyes just grew brighter and his grin broader. He turned his eyes back toward the Heartless and stuffed the piece of cloth back into his robes, already examining the types of Heartless gathered. "Dark side and Invisibles, not easy." There were dozens of mid- to high ranking Heartless with a few top ranking Behemoths as well. But from what Toshiro said Sora grew even more confidant. "Gillian but no Menos Grande. We may survive yet." Toshiro ran to the edge of the cliff and searched for someone amongst the Soul Reapers, finding that person he opened his mouth to scream but the last flower of his Bankai shattered, leaving him to stare in disbelief at his Zanpakutō but he just shook his head and looked down again. "Kurosaki! Get up here!" With a quick flash step most of the captains with Yoruichi and Ichigo appeared on the top of the cliff, looking out at the advancing flood of Hollows and Heartless.

Sora chugged down an elixir and handed both Kairi and Ivy one as well, as well as a few ethers and hi-potions. They both swallowed a hi-potion and broke an ether cube above their heads, sighing in relief as they did. But the captains and substitute Soul Reaper had no such luck, they had to rely on the few members of the fourth division Unohana had brought with her to the battlefield and Unohana herself. But this stroke of bad luck was actually a good thing, as a potion only restored a bodies immediate energy reserve while a ether restored your focus and spiritual stamina, whereas Unohana and her healers healed ones spirit and restored your spiritual energy, the very thing each Soul Reaper was made up of. So while Sora's friends and the Soul Reapers healed themselves they worked on a plan of action. But the plan they decided on was Ivy's strategic rush, which just had everyone charge in from all directions guns blazing. It was a crude tactic but the sheer damage done to every side of the combined Hollow and Heartless army would slow the army down enough to bring it to an eventual stop. And the three people who opted to attack the very front of the army while the others took their positions were Sora, obviously this was his mess after all, Ichigo, he was their shield and spear, he had immense spiritual pressure and incredible endurance in Bankai as well as speed and strength. The last to attack first was a lieutenant, Renji Abarai, who most of the captains and Ivy didn't think was wise but Ichigo insisted, as did Sora. Ichigo because they had fought against and with each other and as such trusted and respected each other enough to help each other out if the need arose. And Sora...he liked Renji, they'd become friends when Sora and Kairi had been in Soul Society the last time and they had trained with each other multiple times as well.

So while Ichigo went to get Renji Sora and the others prepared, most of the captains were mostly uninjured and hadn't really fought to kill when Yamamoto had ordered them to kill, they trusted and cared for Sora and Kairi enough to disobey a direct order and try to keep them alive even when they were hammered repeatedly by Sora and Ivy during the battle. The captains who remained on the stone cliff with Sora stood on the cliff doing nothing, mainly discussing ways to ensure the survival of the many souls who lived in Soul Society. But Shunsui and Unohana stood beside Sora, looking at the impending battle with sadness in their eyes with their faces tense and pale. But Sora just sat with his eyes closed, working to keep his heart as slow and steady as possible while he worked on his own plan of action. 'I haven't seen either Ichigo or Renji's Bankai, hell, I didn't even know what a Bankai was until Toshiro tried to kill me. But from what I've seen Ichigo do and what Renji has shown me when we sparred before I know they will both survive, even if I don't help them against the Heartless.' When the air throbbed with a certain wave Sora opened his eyes and looked up into the sky, seeing the sky split and watched Gillian Hollows rain down from the hole. But neither Shunsui or Unohana looked concerned. And when Sora asked why that was they both smiled at him. "No Arrancar or Menos Grande. If any of those show up we have a problem, but if only Gillian appear we can handle it, we all fought in Hueco Mundo and we all got out alive. And even if a few Arrancar showed up we could handle it, as long as a few captains had the time and the power they would be dealt with. And even if we all died, this is a big if, Ichigo would handle it. He did before and he will again. And if he died we all know what that would mean." At this both Shunsui and Unohana got hard looks and they looked down at Ichigo. But neither of them enquired on what they meant, instead Sora had to probe them. And even then Unohana barely answered him. "Ichigo is...different. He has certain...qualities other Soul Reapers could never have. We prohibit such power but he was born with them so we could do nothing but accept him. If the captain-commander had ordered us to dispose of him we wouldn't have been able to, not after Byakuya almost killed him before. When he dropped into Seireitei we were ordered to dispose of him but we couldn't, he defeated us all one by one. And that was when he's had his Shinigami powers for a few months, now he's had them for a few years. Now none of us can even keep up with him with spiritual pressure, least of all brute strength. He is without equal in regard to raw power." Sora nodded his head and stood up, his heart slow and strong, and drew Last Hope, his blade of power shining like a new sun with Light.

Sora looked to his left and right sides and smiled at Ichigo and Renji in excitement, Heartless and Hollows storming toward them. Sora waited for the Heartless to break ranks as he knew they would and took aim with a firaga. But before he could cast his spell Ichigo stepped forward with Zangetsu raised, his body streaming black and crimson. "Getsuga Tensho!" Sora's mouth flopped open at the rush of energy that flowed from Ichigo through Zangetsu and into the world. An ebony half-moon streamed from Zangetsu's edge and cut deep into the Heartless and Hollow horde. 'Incredible. Dense and wild, almost like a Heartless. But how? How could he use such power?' Sora got his answer a second later, when Ichigo widened his stance and swung Zangetsu out behind him. "Bankai!" Ichigo exploded with power and Sora, along with Renji, was thrown back, banging his head against a sharp rock on the way. As he stood up from under the pile of rubble he cast his eyes out and saw Ichigo, and what he saw both amused and disturbed him. "Tensa Zangetsu." Ichigo wore black robes with bandages underneath, the edges of his coat-tails lined in red with a pitch black Zanpakutō in his hand. 'It's so small.' Sora had expected something else from Ichigo's Bankai, maybe a claymore of enormous proportion or a creature of some sort. But then Sora understood the reality of Ichigo's Bankai, the pure ingenuity behind it. 'Because it's so small its shape is stable, which makes it easier to use for a long period of time. And because all his spiritual pressure is compressed in such a small blade it gives him great speed and strength beyond what is normally possible.' And as always the rush of power Bankai gave left Sora breathless, especially with someone already as strong as Ichigo. Ichigo raised Tensa Zangetsu skyward and the blade was enveloped with a power so close to a Heartless Sora could even imagine Ichigo's eyes as they would be golden. "Getsuga Tensho!" Like before the wave was a half-moon but the leading edge was ebony and the tail glowed with crimson might. Where before Getsuga Tensho had cut a small swath from the initial front section of Hollows and Heartless it now cut through dozens of the Darkness spawn. But the Heartless neither stopped or turned to look as their own kind died by the dozens, they merely looked at Ichigo in hunger and started moving toward him faster. The Hollows, however had paused when Ichigo had used Bankai, had completely stopped when he'd used Getsuga Tensho.

Sora ran forward and cut a Hollow in half, its mask breaking as he split its skull. Sora shoved the Hollow away but when the mask fell off and he saw the human face, the normal human face on the body of a creature out of his nightmares, he grew disgusted. But he had to keep killing, he killed each and every single Hollow and Heartless that crossed his path. But he did get a couple times to rest, to think, to gather his wits, when the other captains and their forces attacked the army. But he prayed that each rest would be short and filled with distractions, for he did not want to think about what he was doing, what he had brought upon them all by cursing the Soul Reapers as he had. 'My fault, my most grievous fault.' And so his prayers were answered, when a Hollow with a shattered mask walked toward him, Zanpakutō held to the side with a wide grin on his tanned face. "Come here boy. Let's...play!" With a shout the Arrancar ran forward and swung his Zanpakutō, Sora catching it on Last Hope's guard with relative ease. "Oh, you have some power boy." The Arrancar skid back and jumped into the air, standing where he was with his finger pointed down toward Sora. And at the tip of his pointed nail formed a small sphere of yellow energy, the sphere growing steadily larger. "Cero." The sphere split down the middle and bathed the area in yellow energy, Sora's arms held in front of his face to help him see. When the Cero faded away Sora straightened up and shoved the boulders that covered his body away, his body unharmed but weakened. But the Arrancar looked amused, chuckling as Sora floated up into the sky. "Well well. You do have power." When the Arrancar opened his mouth to speak again Sora felt his patience peak, so annoyed at the small talk and the fights and the killing that his heart responded to his request for power. As his form erupted into Light Sora willed himself forward, lifting his left arm as he did. He looked back and saw the Arrancar's legs fall to the ground, his upper body in Sora's left hand. Even though the Arrancar would die he smiled. "Guess I was right. You do have power." But Sora has had enough, he clenched his left hand and his Light flowed into his palm, flames burning up toward the sky. "Shut up!" And he killed him, the Arrancar faded away into dust. "I see you're as arrogant as always...Master."

Sora slowly turned around with wide eyes and saw the person he least wanted to see, Danny. But the ghost boy had aged, his eyes crimson and his hair cropped short. But his skin was so corrupted by Darkness his body looked as if it was carved from tarnished bronze. "Danny. You did this?" But Dan didn't respond, he looked to the side toward Ichigo, the orange-haired youth so focused in his fight he didn't even look up. "He is young, but strong. Almost like me in my youth." It was then that Sora noticed that Danny had faint wrinkled around his eyes and deep shadows under his eyes. "Getting old eh? Not strong enough to endure the test of time, are you Danny?" But Sora was bluffing, Danny's body was covered in rock-hard muscle, his shoulders broad and his body showing great strength. He couldn't be more than twenty-seven but he looked older, wiser, stronger, the tell-tale signs of a life spent fighting.

But Sora bluffed for another reason, he wanted Danny to underestimate him. He had nearly killed Danny twice before but now he knew he couldn't, not in a fair fight at least. But Danny saw through his ruse, he raised his hand in front of his face and closed his eyes, his hand starting to stream with red Darkness. Sora however did nothing, so weak from fighting so long and so hard he couldn't afford to waste power to show off. "Stop playing with me Danny. If you want a fight...bring it." Danny's mouth twisted up into a sarcastic smile and his eyes opened, golden with his pupils mere pinpricks. "As you wish..." and he slashed his right hand down, Darkness streaming from his form. Sora dodged the wave of Darkness and threw Tenshi's fire toward him, the Darkness hissing like hot metal touching ice. Danny ran toward him and Sora blocked his downward slash with some effort, the tiles beneath them both cracking from the pressure. Sora pushed against Danny but the older man was stronger, more solid so where Sora pushed down with both hands with his full might Danny held his keyblade in a gentle grip in one hand. "Tut tut Master, time has proven a bitter enemy for you as well, or rather a lack thereof." In answer Sora set his blade ablaze with Light and it surged up and outward, tendrils forming bolts that stabbed into Danny's chest with relative ease. But the bolts slid into his skin without a single drop of blood, reminding Sora once again that Danny really was a prodigy at becoming adapted to any situation. But Sora too could adapt, it was one of his best fighting skills.

Sora swung Last Hope overhead and changed his grip just as Danny raised his blade to block, so that he now wielded Last Hope backhanded, and slashed his keen blade over Danny's throat. But Danny's blood had barely spurted from his ruined throat when the wound healed, something that Sora could never have done, even if he was immortal. Sora slashed again and again but Danny's blade blocked every blow. Sora changed hands mid-blow and transferred Last Hope to his left hand and stabbed upward, aiming to unlock Danny's heart. But Danny's hand barred his way, Last Hope's spiked edge driven through his hand to stop a hair-breadth from his chest. "Need to do better than that, Master." Sora looked up into Danny's eyes, for he towered above Sora for at least a foot, and drove his knee into Danny's gut. But Danny didn't even flinch, his core so muscled he barely moved under the heavy blow. Sora pulled his blade back and twisted it mid-air, a sphere of Light on the tip. He released the Light and it shot forward, through Danny's chest and shattered. But unlike his immortal self Danny didn't even look down at the wound, he just shrugged his ruined shoulder as his flesh healed.

Sora sank down to his knees and drove Last Hope into the ground to keep himself from collapsing. He looked up into Danny's face and saw Danny raise his blade to end it. 'Tenshi, Roxas, Anti, I have failed you.' As Danny's blade descended Sora closed his eyes and flinched when he heard the loud screech of metal colliding with metal. Sora opened his eyes and saw that it was Ichigo, Tensa Zangetsu's blade a mere inch from his neck as it held the black blade of Danny's keyblade still. Sora looked into Ichigo's eyes and thanked him but Ichigo just shrugged and drove his feet into the ground. And as a Getsuga Tensho formed on his Zanpakutō's blade Ichigo shoved upward, the Getsuga Tensho empowered blade drove Danny away and Ichigo pulled Sora to his feet. "Don't worry about it, you would have done the same for me." Sora thanked him again and held Last Hope at the ready, willing and able to continue his fight. But Danny seemed distracted, his eyes misty as he stared at Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu. But his distraction didn't last long, he blinked slowly before looking at Sora again. "You have some interesting friends Sora. Bordering on the impossible. But," At this Danny stared at Sora with a curious expression, not hateful or rage but regret and sadness. "I see what others do not. And I see that you, Sora, will lose this fight." And with these incredibly smooth words Danny began to emit a Darkness so foul and corrupt it rivalled Primal Darkness, along with Light, and rushed forward, his eyes glowing golden, his form entirely obscured in shadow. Sora saw Ichigo swing his blade but Danny moved through Tensa Zangetsu, and right into Sora.

Sora grappled with Danny and filled his form with Light and Darkness, the Darkness purified with Twilight and the Light tainted by Dawn, his fists pounding Danny just as surely Danny's pounded him. But Sora had the upper hand in hand-to-hand combat, for Anti used pure might in his attacks, berserker rather than a paladin, and his mind was clear of everything, Roxas's Nobody heritage aiding his decisions. But Danny wasn't a weak novice, he struck with an assassins precision, his fist pounding Sora's side, his liver and kidneys screaming in agony, while Sora went for the delicate parts, Danny's neck and gut. And punch for punch Sora and Danny fought, rolling on the ground one second and twisting in the air the next. But they rolled into nothing, the battle over and every Hollow and Heartless gone, the Soul Reapers respecting the ancient laws of combat.

Sora drove his fist into Danny's neck and heard something snap, Danny's jaw giving in as Sora used titanic force behind each blow. And as his reward Danny broke two ribs along with the radius in Sora's left forearm as he blocked a devastating punch to the temple. But they both ignored their injuries, having them heal as they literally tore each other to shreds. At some point Sora was on top with Danny's neck in one hand and his fist pounding into his temple, hoping to end it by destroying Danny's brain or neck. But Danny had merely reached up with hands streaming Darkness most foul and plunged his hands into Sora's eyes, ripping the orbs from his skull.

Sora screamed in pain and thrashed beneath Danny, ignorant to the fact that Ichigo had joined the fray. And as Sora plunged his arm forward blindly he finally felt flesh give way beneath him, and he reached deep into Danny's granite body and grabbed his heart, the delicate organ beating steadily as he began to pull it from Danny's body. Sora channelled his entire being into his body and his blind eyes were lit with Light. But he knew his eyes weren't healing, quite the opposite, his eyelids closed over his blind sockets and his mind filled with Light, illuminating everything around him the only way he knew how. With a twist he set the hand holding Danny's heart ablaze and tightened his grip, almost crushing the organ. But Danny had experience, he flooded his entire form with Darkness and his body faded away, leaving Sora clutching at empty air.

Sora sprang to his feet and shoved Ichigo, or was it Renji, away and turned his blind eyes outward, already seeing Darkness seep from the soil ten feet away. He formed two blades of Light in his hands and he ran, directly into the waiting Corridor of Darkness and banished the Darkness with his Light, leaving him holding his blades crisscrossed through Danny's heart, his chest already healed from Sora's impalement, and ripped them from his body. But that's what Danny had been waiting for, he fell to the ground and opened another Corridor around his body, this one dissipating before Sora could do any more damage. 'I did it. With a price.' Sora let out a deep breath and felt the tension leave his body, the many wounds he'd suffered that day coming back to haunt him that very second. But he ignored them and turned back toward where he'd come from, from the place Ichigo's soul shone with a bright Light encased in Darkness. "We did it." Sora's lips curved into a smile and he felt himself fall, his body exhausted beyond belief and his will broken. 'We did it. But with a price.' And with this depressing thought Sora's mind gave in to the embrace of sleep, his mind finding solace in a dream where he met a man long dead with crimson eyes that regarded him in respect and pride. "Come to me, Master of Destiny and your eyes shall see the light of day and the shadow of hate once more. I'll be waiting."

When Sora collapsed Kairi screamed in fright and found herself running, moving through the Soul Reapers that stood in her way. She had started out on the opposite side of the battlefield but had made her way steadily through the army as the battle had progressed. But when she had actually felt, felt, Sora's eyes being torn from their sockets she gathered Angelfire's fire to her and made a small sphere of it in her hand, making it as dense and small as possible. When the fire burned bright and strong while at the same time having enough power to destroy a world Kairi held her left hand toward the fire and let it seep into her Shadow Hand, the Inferno based relic absorbing the fire with relative ease while leaving her unharmed. For Inferno was fire-based as well, it could absorb and control any fire that touched it, and that is what Kairi did, she coated her Shadow Hand in fire and proceeded to advance through the battle, burning entire regiments of Hollows and Heartless in a single second. By the time she did reach Sora the fire was gone, most of it scorching the path behind her with Angelic fury. Even though she was faint with exhaustion she pushed through the Soul Reapers crowding around Sora and sank down on her knees beside him. She pulled his head into her lap and closed her eyes, feeling his heart beat against her wrist and his breathing touch her fingers as she felt for a sign of life.

Kairi looked down at Sora and touched his eyes, the tattered eyelids barely covering the gruesome wounds. She drew his eyelids back to see if there was any part of his eyes left and sighed when she saw nothing, quite confident that she could give him back what had been stolen from him. She tapped into her hearts most pure Light and channelled it into her hands, holding her palms over Sora's eyes as she tried healing them. But when she moved her hands away to inspect her handiwork Sora's eyes were still gone, the bare sockets bleeding blood tainted by Darkness. 'Darkness inflicted wounds never heal, every keyblade wielder knows that, that's why they wear armour that repels Darkness.' So Kairi did what she knew she must, she laid Sora's head on the ground and backed away, letting the Soul Reapers treat him as they saw fit.

Ivy watched in quite fascination as the Soul Reapers tried healing Sora, first the fourth division used the normal healing techniques they'd perfected over the millennia and when that failed Unohana herself had used the art she had helped perfect, and when that failed she grew pale but had quickly brought her Zanpakutō to bear and used its Shikai, Minazuki, allowing the great beast that appeared to swallow Sora. And there he remained for perhaps thirty minutes before Minazuki spat him back out, all his wounds except his eyes healed to perfection. "For a wound such as this to remain even after Minazuki swallowed him is extraordinary, even unnatural." At this she had turned to Kairi and smiled gently. "This wound may be cursed but I shall do everything I can. I promise Kairi, I will do all I can." But when Unohana had sent for her fourth seat Ivy was more than surprised. 'What can someone weaker than a lieutenant accomplish? If Unohana herself can't heal him what chance does a whelp have?' But Ivy held her tongue, already regretting the fight she had taken part in.

Less than ten minutes later Ivy got an answer, Hanatarō Yamada showed up with surgical gloves rolled up to his armpits. He bowed to Unohana and to the rest of the captains. But that didn't surprise Ivy, the fact that most of the assembled captains acknowledged Hanatarō did. 'But he's a runt, he has no spiritual pressure, least of all age.' For Hanatarō was frail, he had skinny arms and a slight build with sallow cheeks and puppy-dog eyes. But Unohana kindly asked him to stab Sora and he drew his Zanpakutō. Ivy eyed his Zanpakutō in fascination, for even though it was a perfectly normal Zanpakutō it had a gauge down its spine, looking uncomfortably like a thermostat. And so he stabbed Sora through the chest and the gauge steadily filled, the wound he'd made healing and Sora's eyes glistering. But all Hanatarō could manage was healing his eyelids to what they were before, his eyes remained as they was. When Hanatarō had done this three times his Zanpakutō flashed and shrinked, becoming a scalpel which he held in one hand and pointed up at the sky like it was a grenade. And everyone he accidently pointed it at moved out of the way, like it was an RPG just waiting to fly. Hanatarō stepped away from Sora and frantically bowed to everyone. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." But Unohana merely smiled again and waved him over and he walked over to her with his shoulders slumped. "Hanatarō, why is this wound not healing?" Hanatarō shrugged his shoulders and looked up at Unohana, he was short after all. "I'm sorry Unohana-san, I don't know." Unohana smiled at Hanatarō again before turning to Kairi once more. "It would seem we have another conundrum. We shall continue trying to restore his vision but I have no guarantee it will work." And so they did, the Soul Reapers took Sora to a room in the Research and Development barrack, Mayuri the one tasked to find a way to heal his ruined eyes.

Kairi looked at Sora through the glass wall, his form covered in white robes, his eyes bound with a bandage. 'They still haven't found a way. It's been ten days but they still haven't found a way to heal him. And he still won't wake up.' For Sora had never awoken from his forced sleep, his body fighting the Darkness still lingering within his body's tissues. But the Darkness had been expelled more than four days ago, his blood clean of all corruption. 'I wonder how Ivy's doing? She hasn't come back from the world she said she's going too.' For even though Ivy had convinced Kairi and everyone else that Sora would regain his vision she had left almost immediately after Sora had been placed in the glass room, saying she's going to see what she could do. She had come back twice before, her body covered in blood on both occasions, exhausted. She had slept for an hour when she'd come back and had taken a bath, given Unohana and Mayuri a detailed report of what she'd learned and left again. But she hadn't been seen or heard from in over five days, so she must have found a world that could help Sora...or she was dead. Kairi sincerely hoped for the first and prayed that Ivy wasn't lying in a ditch somewhere. Sure she didn't like Ivy but she didn't wish her harm, they just didn't get along, something she knew would pass. Kairi looked at Sora and sighed, a sigh that sounded about as tired as Kairi felt. "And that sigh? Losing hope?" Kairi looked to the side and saw that Ukitake had joined her, his face paler than normal with sweat dampening his brow. 'He's sick again. He's pushing himself farther than he knew he should.' Kairi had heard from Rukia that Ukitake was sick, and even though she didn't know the specifics she knew his illness weakened him much more than he would want to admit, even to himself, but she knew he'd be insulted if she brought it up. "No, just tired is all."

Kairi looked at Sora's still body once more and bid him farewell for the time being, promising she'd be back when he finally woke up. She turned her back on Sora just as his fingers twitched, his chest arching from the bed he lay in. Kairi walked past Ukitake but he gently touched her shoulder and motioned to the glass wall, his face lighting up. "He moved." Kairi however had already seen Sora's chest rising from the table and had run into the room, the three glass doors that led to his room shoved into the wall in her haste. But she dared not touch him, lest he move away from her and into an even deeper sleep. But she did touch him when he started unwinding his bandages, as if he wanted to open his eyes and look around him. She grabbed the hand scratching at his eyes and laid her other hand on his shoulder, reassuring him with her touch. "Don't. Unohana said we should keep them bandaged, at least for now." Sora grew still beneath her touch and settled back down against the blankets, his one hand on the hand touching his shoulder and the other held against his eyes. "Now I remember. Danny blinded me, and the man told me to come to him. The man with red eyes."

Coincidentally Ivy had just returned from her latest exploration, to a world Uriel had warned her about, the world of the Shinobi. 'The ninja is dangerous, even to the most experienced fighters. They can fool your very heart with but a glance, they are the perfect fighter: disciplined, silent, ruthless and of course...heartless in battle. Fear them Ivy, for if you do not you will underestimate them and fall down dead far sooner than you would want.' Ivy had heeded Uriel's wisdom but had gone to Konoha, gone to the closest village she could find and began questioning all the ninja she came across. One in particular, a strange teenager who went only as Sai willingly gave her all the info she wanted, about the infamous Sharingan. How every Uchiha had the potential to unlock and master the copy wheel eye. But Sai had also told her only a handful of Uchiha remained alive, with two dead but still walking around nonetheless and two so corrupted by hatred they would just as easily kill Sora as they would help him. But one small detail Sai told her stood out, about being able to transplant a Sharingan to a person of blood relation to the donour. Ivy had wanted more information but a girl with pink hair had come running toward them and had started questioning Ivy's involvement with some or other sabotage in the medical tents. So Ivy had made like any enemy ninja would do and split, her body falling into a waiting pool of Darkness beneath her, hiding in her shadow. Ivy had wandered around the village but apparently the pink haired girl had sent out a warning and everyone she talked to either refused to talk to her or ignored her completely. So Ivy had opened a Corridor of Light and returned to Soul Society once more, finding Sora awake and hope renewed among the Soul reapers.

Sora felt his way around the room and heard Kairi breath behind him, not his keeper but rather there to help him if he needed it. Just like the genuine lover she was. In situations like this the true feeling of a person are revealed, if someone loved you truly they would help you in any way they could, a person who was shallow and only wanted attention would leave you if the going got tough. Sora had been awake for perhaps an hour and he hadn't gotten even a second alone with Kairi, either some Soul Reaper wanted to thank him for who knew what or a captain wanted to ask him something about the dreams he had. Because he had told all the captains as soon as they arrived in his room, one Kairi told him repelled any spiritual energy beside his own. Because even though he had woken up he had been in a coma for over a week, his body weak from lack of nutrition or exercise and of course the weakness of recovering from Darkness poisoning. He'd told every detail of his dream more times than he could remember and he knew he would tell it again before the day was done. But a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, frail as they were. He heard Kairi step toward the door and open it, a scent of honey and cinnamon filling the room. "Hello Ivy." Sora heard Ivy move toward him almost silently, just the sliding of cloth over cloth betraying her location in the bleak room. "Hello Sora. How was your nap?" Sora chuckled lightly and sank down onto the bed he'd occupied for so long. "Dusty, boring. Like a broom cupboard actually." Ivy chuckled at his lame attempt at a joke and sat down beside him, her weight making the mattress sag to the left, light as she was. "I found a world that can restore your vision."

Sora tilted his head to the side as Ivy explained what she had found out in Konoha, tilting his head in a vain attempt to find out where she was. When she was done he rose to his feet and took a blind step forward and bumped into someone, Kairi to be exact. And as he slung his arm over her shoulder to help regain his balance he considered what he had just learned. "Which of the four will help me?" When Ivy remained quite he made an impatient noise in his throat and raised his free hand, a small sphere of Light appearing. This sphere could help him see, in a fashion, by dispersing the minute rays of Light around the room and letting them fill it, their location telling him where everything was. So he fixed Ivy in his blind gaze and he saw her stare at his ruined eyes without flinching. "The one who died recently, who martyred himself to save his village and his brother, Uchiha Itachi. He is dangerous, one of the most dangerous Uchiha who ever lived, but he will at least listen to you before he kills you. The two Madara's won't hesitate to act and Sasuke, Itachi's baby brother, would just as likely help you as he is to help his village against Madara, the real Madara." Sora nodded and turned to Kairi, touching her face gently as he blindly stared into her eyes. "Kairi...I love you. Can you come with me to convince Itachi to help me? You've always been better at convincing people to help you." To give her more conviction to come with him Sora nibbled on her neck, his hand rubbing soothing circles into her back. In between a moan of pleasure and a sigh of annoyance Kairi nodded. "I'll go, but don't stop, that feels so good." Sora chuckled lightly and rubbed his hands deeper, having Ivy sigh in disgust. "I'll be with Ichigo if you need me...but the way you're going on right now tells me I'll see you when you see me." Ivy backed out of the room but came back when Sora called out. "Ivy can you do me a favour?" Even though Sora was blind he could feel the look of surprise and embarrassment cross Ivy's face. "Sora, I appreciate the offer but...Desperate I might be I'm not that desperate." Sora cocked his head to the side and smiled a naughty smile. "That would be kinda fun...but no. Close the door please."

Ivy rolled her eyes but did as Sora asked, and when the door closed the glass grew dark and she heard the muffled sounds of Sora and Kairi enjoying their moment alone. 'Young love. So sweet but so easily extinguished.' Ivy walked from that place and let her memories fill her once more, the memories of what she had lost through the years and what she had gained as well. 'He really did care, but _he _killed him, killed him not even an hour after he bound himself to me.' But Ivy clamped down on these memories, memories where she wore a blue dress with her eyes filled with love, a man with black eyes on her arm... She tightened her grip on her heart and the memories faded away, leaving a single afterimage she couldn't, wouldn't, get rid of. Of her own self in a mirror, _his_ face beside her own, both having smiles of tender love. Ivy's eyes were bloodshot, not from tears of sadness but tears of joy, her eyes softer than they could ever be and her cheeks having actual colour, not the bleak paleness she had now. His face was slightly lined, wrinkles sprouting from the corner of each eye, the wrinkles not from age but from experience and stress, which just made him even more handsome than he was. He was tanned, not from Darkness but from the kiss of the sun, his eyes like precious gemstones, his own dark secrets revealed to her just as her own were to him. And she heard once more the words he'd whispered in her ear. 'I love you.' And she even heard her own voice, this one time having emotions that weren't dark or twisted, but light and sincere. 'Just as I love you.' With a sick wrench in her heart Ivy slammed her fist into the wall beside her, the skin on her knuckles splitting and her bones screaming in agony as the stone cracked. And she used that pain just as readily that she used her hatred or rage, she used it to shield herself, but his time the enemy was herself. "That looks like it hurts."

**Review! Please?**


	15. Hybrid

**Next chapter: Hybrid.**

Ivy looked to the side and saw Ichigo approach, Zangetsu sheathed and a frown on his face. Ivy raised her broken hand and clenched it, the dislocated knuckles popping back into place. "Looks can be deceiving." At that Ichigo smiled, already falling into the rhythm of the game they played. "So it doesn't hurt?" Ivy smiled slightly, the memories falling back into her heart. "It does. But I've had worse, far worse." Ichigo nodded and stopped, more than a couple feet from Ivy still but cautious. Because the first time he'd tried to touch her, to just ruffle her hair playfully he'd ended up on the floor, his right arm held behind his back horizontally with his shoulders with an ivory blade held to his throat. From then he'd realised that looks were deceiving, Ivy was in fact one of the strongest people he knew, able to hold her own against Kenpachi in a fair bout of locking swords. She was also one of the fastest, easily able to outstrip him in short distances and quickly overtaking Yoruichi in any distance. She was also one of the best fighters he knew, only Urahara and Tensa Zangetsu far more skilled than her with a blade. But her use of weapons extended past a sword or a spear, she could use chakrams one minute and an inner edge katana the next with a master's skill. She could even use someone's Zanpakutō with excellent skill, even though every Zanpakutō she's handled was different from the previous. So he knew not to underestimate her, even though she'd told him she'd never hurt him without cause. "Ichigo? I can see the wheels in your mind turning, what's up?" He blinked and rubbed his head, looking at her as he did. "Nothing. Oh yeah, why'd I come here? To see if Sora wanted to do something? Like explore Seireitei with someone who knows it."

Ivy chuckled, sounding even more tired than she was and pointed down the hall toward the blacked out windows of Sora's room. "Kairi's with him. So be my guest, if Sora throws you through the wall it's not my fault, and now that he's blind he'll put all he has behind the motion, which will probably hurt you more than my hand." Ivy raised her ruined hand and clenched her fist, the skin peeling to reveal moist pink skin, the scars gone and the muscle and bone repaired. Ichigo looked at her hand in obvious surprise before looking over her shoulder toward Sora's room, his frown fading as he regarded the situation. After about a minute he looked down at Ivy and moved his head to the side, thinking about a compromise. "Ivy...do you want me to show you around?" Ivy looked up at Ichigo and she felt the strangest sensation, heat touched her cheeks and her heart leaped. But she was cautious, she'd trusted people before and all they gave her was heartache. 'But he's so young and filled with hope. I mean, sure I'm eighteen but Uriel told me I have an old soul, a soul of someone who has lived a hard life and hated it. I have suffered enough.' Ivy opened her mouth to decline Ichigo's offer but a feeling stopped her, a feeling of happiness. And even though she knew it would haunt her she nodded, hearing herself say "Sure."

Ivy looked at Ichigo as he talked, explaining how he'd become a Soul Reaper and how he had struggled to obtain Bankai, and how hard it had been to use the final Getsuga, how he'd lost his power just to regain it in the same way he'd gained it in the first place, a sword thrust through his chest, the same girl holding the sword. "But it wasn't just Rukia, the others were there too. Byakuya, Renji, Kenpachi, Ikkaku, Toshiro...everyone. They helped me, even though they had no reason to, and for that I am grateful. I've thanked them all before but they just shrug me off, saying it's the least they could have done." Ichigo shook his head and smiled down at Ivy, his frown for once gone. "They gave me my life back, they gave it to me and they won't let me thank them..." At the misty look in Ichigo's eyes Ivy rammed her shoulder into his arm, softly, in a playful manner. "What a prissy pussycat, living in the past. Live in the present and learn from the past and look forward to the future." Even though Ichigo looked insulted he nodded, his eyes becoming bright with hope as he lengthened his strides, Ivy struggling to keep up with her shorter legs. "So...why did you learn Bankai? I mean, from what Renji told me it's one of the most difficult things a Shinigami could do. Plus, he told me you mastered Bankai in three days." Ichigo looked down at her and stopped, Ivy stopping a second later, a frown once more adorning his face. "Bankai is...useful. It lets you learn from your Zanpakutō, even become friends with them. If I didn't have Bankai I wouldn't be half as strong as I am now. Zangetsu gives me his strength and I give him mine, it's a mutual exchange that works perfectly. Now...take Bankai and make the power you use denser, darker, more twisted. When you understand that you understand what Hollowfication is. Having your soul have two inhabitants, a Zanpakutō and a Hollow, both in a permanent fight for supremacy, neither winning or losing but both becoming stronger as they fight. Using Bankai with Hollowfication is...dangerous, to yourself and to those around you. Especially if you haven't made yourself the master."

Ichigo fell silent and started walking again, his strides shorter than usual to compensate for Ivy's shorter legs. "What do you mean? How do you know?" Ichigo turned around and eyed her, his eyes wider with disbelief. "How do I know what?" Ivy looked at him and drew a broken heart in the air, the Heartless symbol seeming to glow golden for a second. "Hollow might? How do you know how it feels?" Ichigo looked at the faded Heartless sign and cocked his head to the side, lifting his one hand until it just touched his face. "Because of this." And with these words he tightened the hand touching his face into a claw and dragged it down, a black orb forming. And from the orb appeared a white substance, almost like liquid ivory, which spread over his face into a definite shape. And before Ivy knew it Ichigo had a Hollow mask, the red marks shocking against the white. And Ichigo regarded Ivy with half lidded eyes through the mask, his sclera black and his eyes a rich gold, as if he expected her to run in fear. But she didn't, she smiled in cruel satisfaction and blinked her own eyes, the slit pupils forming. "Hybrid. Shinigami and Dark Demon, quite a mix." Ichigo looked shocked at Ivy's explanation of what he was but she just widened her smile, making it more a snarl than anything else. "I too am a hybrid. But a hybrid of a hybrid. Blood from the Fey and from the daemon runs through my veins, my family's little secret. Even my sister, in all her power, knows little about us. It's where we got our eyes and our other...gifts. My daemon blood is dominant, which is why my eyes focus on the present as well as the cursed. Yaela's dominant blood is Fey, she alters the very fabric of time and space, and yet she refuses to use her power for anything except the most desperate moment, a trait all Fey share." Ivy blinked her eyes again and wormed her way into Ichigo's soul, his very soul, and twisted the part of him that enabled his Hollow power, his mask shattering like a crystal chalice. "Hybrid blood is unstable, so don't rely on both Hollow and Shinigami power if you don't have too. If you do...you might just die." But Ivy just shrugged as if dying was the last thing Ichigo had to worry about, which it was.

Kairi looked down at Sora and traced a scar marring his arm with a finger, feeling her eyes dilate in pleasure. She reached down and tugged at the edge of his shirt, her nails just barely scratching the skin over his tight stomach. He nodded his head and took his shirt off, throwing it to the side. Even though he was blind he could see her better than anyone else, their bond of trust so deep that he could even feel what her emotions were, just as she could feel his. She looked at his ruined eyes and turned her eyes down, down toward the tanned shin of his chest. She traced the muscles over his stomach and felt them contract and relax with every breath he took, her fingers making him shiver all the more. But when she reached his chest, specifically his sternum, she stopped, her fingers tracing the star shaped scar there. "What's this?" Sora raised his one hand and traced the large scar, as if he himself didn't know. "I got it when I faced my Other. He impaled me with his arm." Kairi made a noise in her throat and Sora had the distinct feeling she was looking at him strangely, as if she was questioning his sanity. "It's true. And don't look at me like that." Kairi grew still before she kissed him, a sweet kiss which melted the faint sense of annoyance he felt. When she pulled away he reached up and ran his hands through her hair, releasing it from the braid she'd put it in. And as he played with her hair he explained, explained how he'd killed himself three times and meeting Tenshi. "Tenshi? Is that some of sick joke?"

Sora was about to answer Kairi's question when a giggle interrupted him, as well as the feeling someone was watching them. He turned his head to the side and smiled, knowing Tenshi was standing in the shadows, watching. "Sora-kun, that's kinda hot that you know I'm here." A rude sound came from Kairi so Tenshi giggled again. "Sorry Kairi, I did say kinda. Besides, it's not like I'd try to steal him from you, the two of you belong together, just like Bonnie & Clyde." Tenshi sighed a love-smitten sigh and clutched her hands in front of her chest while fluttering her lashes. But neither Sora or Kairi were comfortable about the classification. But it was Sora who broke the news. "Bonnie and Clyde died." Tenshi giggled again and Sora felt her sit down on the bed."I know. But you will die...one day. And the way the two of you keep getting hurt tells me it's gonna be sooner rather than later." Even though Kairi gasped in horror Sora did not, he growled like the animal inside him and stood up, his skin glittering with suppressed power. "Tenshi, I warned you before. Don't push me." Even though Sora loved Tenshi, he had to if he wanted to actually feel her power, he had no obligation to treat her fairly. In fact, his tone contained such hate and scorn he felt the hair on his neck rise. "If you do...I will end this." Sora shivered with the concealed threat, his words guttural and bestial. But he also sounded like a snake, the s in 'this' draw out. He felt Tenshi shiver, Kairi's warm body pressed to him in fear.

With a look of anger Tenshi turned on her heel and marched out the door, slamming it as hard as she could, and ran down the hall, her hair trailing behind her. She didn't blame Sora for acting like he did, losing one of his senses had made him cautious, even more than he usually was, and all that caution made him aggressive. 'Poor little lion cub...all raged up to defend his mate with no one to fight. I hope this Itachi helps. If he doesn't I might have to persuade Sora to ask Erebus for help.' Even though Tenshi looked like a nice girl, innocent and untainted, she wasn't. She took the form she did because it pleased her, made her feel human. But no matter how hard she tried she knew she wasn't, could never be. 'It has been a long time since I roamed the world of the living. Almost twenty-four years, and even then it was barely a breath, just a kill. She really did like using me, whether for her own pleasure or for the death of others. I liked Alexia, she was closest to my heart, but I think Sora will be closer still. I mean, he has an immortal mother and an immortal brother, a damned soul as his Guardian and a Nothing as his body. He is kind and true...but I know what time can do to someone like that. Turn them into mindless beasts wanting nothing more than to die in a massacre, in a slaughter of children and innocents. He will lust for hatred far sooner than he would think, want death as his companion and love far behind him. Just like Alexia, he will martyr himself to protect his shattered pride, his forgotten honour.'

Sora sighed as Tenshi slammed the door shut, regretting how he'd acted. "She needs to learn to keep some things too herself." Not wanting to spoil the rest of the time he had with Kairi he took her hands and kissed her neck, having her shiver half-heartedly. After a few minutes of this he sighed. "This isn't working." Kairi sighed as well and stood up, throwing Sora's shirt toward him. "I know that. We should get going, the sooner we're out of Soul Society the better." Sora shook his head sadly and pulled the shirt over his head, the cloth scraping against the bandages covering his eyes. When he was fully dressed he shrugged, feeling muscles that haven't moved in days stretch, his shirt and sleeveless jacket settling into place. "Now we have to find Ivy." He sighed and almost rolled his eyes, but his face burned in pain and he remembered he no longer had any. "This sucks, now I can't even express my teenage angst." He heard Kairi snort and he turned in her direction, falling to his knees with his arms spread wide. "Woe is the one of blindness, the demons of the dark tear my mind asunder and my soul burns with longing. See me for I no longer see you." For a second he _felt _Kairi stare at him before she cracked up, her laughter rolling around the room like an ocean wave. "The hell? Poetry really doesn't fit you Sora." Sora lowered his arms and touched his heart, a small smile forming on his lips. "My heart bleeds for you. But my eyes remain dark and cruel, for they no longer revel in your beauty." Kairi chuckled again before she touched his cheek, her fingertips just brushing over his lips. "Soon my dark angel, soon." Sora touched Kairi's hand before he rose to his feet, his fingers lacing through hers as he advanced toward the door. "Dark angel? Is that my new nickname?" Kairi squeezed his fingers and walked faster, leading him now. "Well yeah, Chocobo head was taken and so was Spiky. And Ripper makes you sound like a psychopath." Sora tilted his head to the side and considered another bad poem, but thought better of it.

Sora dug his feet into the tiles beneath him and stopped, pulling Kairi to a stop as well. He turned his head from side to side in confusion and shrugged, certain he'd felt a disturbance in the air. "What's wrong?" Sora shook his head and continued walking. "Donno." Kairi tugged on his arm and he stopped again. She turned to their right and walked, Sora almost certain they were heading back toward the Research lab where he'd been kept. "Where are we going?" But Kairi didn't answer him, just kept walking. When they'd walked for another minute or so she stopped again, turned and headed to their right. "Where are we going?" He asked her again, his voice harder this rime, more of a demand than a question. "I felt something." Sora snorted softly but kept walking, content to just be with Kairi. "Did you feel a disturbance in the Force?" Sora was sarcastic but Kairi made a sound that gave him the idea she was saying yes. "Where? Are the Jedi coming?" Sora chuckled but shut up, having exhausted his knowledge of all things geek. She smacked him but stopped, making him think she found something. "Found 'em." And she was right, Sora could feel the power erupting from Ichigo like a dam ready to burst, the wild hate contained within Ivy.

Sora sat down beside Kairi, the pillow soft beneath him, and greeted Ivy and Ichigo. "Yo." Sora turned his head to the side and realised five people sat at the table, not four. "Renji." Sora inclined his head toward the marked warrior and sat still, his hands twitching in anticipation. "You two seem..." Sora sighed as Ivy started saying something but she didn't finish it, letting the rest of her words hang in the air. "Happy? Annoyed?" He heard Ivy's hair swish through the air as she shook her head. "No, distracted." Kairi sighed and Sora was caught up in the tiredness, the lost hope. "We just got back from Hell and now we're in Hell again. And that's not even mentioning the fact that Sora just got his eyes torn out by a psychopath who wants to keep me to himself." To Kairi's mention of Hades Renji, or was it Ichigo, snorted. "Well the way you make it sound Hades doesn't seem that back. Sora died, didn't he? Every Soul Reaper has died, and no matter how much we deny it all of us will die again." It was Renji, which is probably why Kairi considered what he said, her fingers digging into Sora's wrist. But he had gone through this before, whether he wanted to die or not, whether he wanted to extend his life beyond mortal bounds or if he wanted to grow old with his friends. "Death is as much a part of life as it is to breathe, to hope, to exist. All things have a beginning and as such they have an end. Nyx herself said she feared death, for it could come at any time in any form, even for an immortal." But even though Sora spoke the truth, Nyx did fear death, that is true, she had also informed him that she had made sure she survived most any doom, whether from injury of some other means. But Nyx still feared death, she accepted that if she needed to die she will embrace Death as an old friend, one she had never met but loved nonetheless. 'Death is but a means to an end. It is neither a beginning nor an end, but a catalyst. If you accept that you will die you need not fear death but if you refuse to accept it you will scream in terror when Death knocks on the door.' Sora leaned back on his hands and was for once thankful he was blind and bandaged, for he was sure the misery he felt would shine in his eyes. "To live you must die. Rage and reap in death, dance and leap in life. Inferno may be forgotten and filled with nothingness but he does know death."

Tenshi listened in silence as Sora spoke, her body hidden from his table by a white screen. "Death is nothing but a distraction. If you fear death you become obsessed with finding a way not to die, just wasting the limited time you have in life. Not even the immortals waste their time, they spend every second they have as if it their last, for they know that they too will die...one day." Tenshi heard the sounds Kairi and Renji made, and snickering, she realised that she was the only one that actually knew what Sora had done when he was with Nyx. 'Kairi's gonna freak when he tells her. If he tells her...he won't tell her. What happens in Hell stays in Hell. But then again, he wasn't in Hell, rather she made him his own personal heaven. He made it his own pit of misery, obsessing over the memories of Kairi that kept...slipping away. Poor bastard, he deserves a break...but he'll never get one if he keeps fighting, and knowing him he'll keep fighting until he turns to ash and his heart crumbles away into dust.' If Tenshi didn't know better she was actually feeling sorry for Sora...which would be possible if she wasn't so...so...evil. She shrugged before getting up, her ebony hair tickling her thighs as she got up. And with her dress moving over her thighs and her hair flapping in a wind impossible in a shop she faded away, joining with Sora once more.

Sora moved uncomfortable on the pillow he sat on and clutched Kairi's hand tighter, his nerves so stretched he was surprised they didn't snap. He moved his head to the side as he felt something tingle up his spine, something old and so corrupted by hate so foul it could kill every living thing from this time and every other. 'It can't be.' Sora focused his inner might and his Light surged forth, illuminating his mind with everything around him. 'It is.' Sora stood up and grinned, throwing up mental barriers all the while around himself and Kairi. "Erebus!" Sora's cry was clear but he sounded weak to his own ears, especially when compared to when he'd last seen Erebus, immortal and cold. But the consuming hate vanished the second the words left his mouth, leaving Sora to doubt whether he was slowly losing his mind. 'It was he.' At Tenshi's voice Sora grew still, his previous guilt rising once more. 'Shut up Sora, I don't want to hear about it. That was Erebus, but he merely made himself known to you so he could brush through your mind for information, information concerning an old friend. But you know nothing so he left, your friends not even remembering you getting up and saying his name. Truth be told, you're sitting down again, looking as if you haven't moved.' And as Tenshi withdrew herself from Sora's mind he looked around him, seeing that Tenshi was telling the truth. 'Who was he looking for?'

Sora thought about what he had seen seconds before when he felt his mind fill with fog, making him wonder what he'd thought about a second before. 'The immortals care about life, and yet it seems I've thought about this before, and it seems I'm forgetting something. But what?' Sora shrugged and returned to the conversation, listening as Ivy and Kairi discussed what they would do to convince Itachi Uchiha to help them. "We could fight him, prove we're worthy." Sora liked Kairi's plan but Ivy didn't, she actually stood against it. "No, he'll just kill us and go on his merry way. He's a shinobi, not a Keyblader. We rely on overwhelming might and power, shinobi rely on speed, stealth and intelligence. Something Sai told me Itachi had an abundance of, he'll plan the fight and waste us without any trouble. He'll turn us against each other and laugh as we slaughter ourselves. He'll stab us in the back from the shadows, he'll poison our food, he'll slit our throats as we sleep. Shinobi train their entire lives to kill an enemy from the shadows, without being seen or heard by anyone. We're trained from our teens to fight as hard as we can, without caution or stealth. Fact is, in Konoha we're targets, targets dealt without effort and without trouble. Even the weakest ninja can outsmart us, their trained to fight with their minds, not with their bodies...something all keyblade wielders fail to grasp. They fight in their mind and figure out our weaknesses and our strengths and figure out ways to slip through our defences and kill us, without hesitation and without remorse." Ivy fell silent and Sora felt her stare at him, a stare he knew was filled with caution and respect. "Can you kill without feeling anything, without remorse or hesitation, to kill for the simple act of taking care of a problem before it becomes a problem?"

Sora felt Kairi stiffen and he knew the answer before she gave it, she couldn't. She wouldn't hurt anyone without good reason, and even then she would be hesitant. She was far too delicate a soul, too caring to be cold, too loving to be ruthless, too pure to be a killer. She has killed, but that was to save her own life, and even then it was under extreme circumstance, where her body moved on its own, her instinct to survive driving her. Even Sora, who had been killing for years, still felt reluctance to kill. But lately he'd begun to felt a reluctance that hadn't been there before, a loathing for fighting in general. He avoided combat if he could and only fought when he absolutely had to, only killing if there was no other choice. The unneeded massacre of the Elders and their Students had sickened him, only his Heartless hatred of all living things keeping the contents of his stomach from seeing the light of day again. Then the fight against the Soul Reapers, he had never aimed to kill, and Ivy and Kairi had done the same, only four Soul Reapers losing their lives, and those four had been the victim of the Hollow and Heartless army. It had been a small loss to what could have happened, but Sora was still sickened, self-loathing gripping his heart in its cold hand even now.

But Sora kept going, he kept fighting and he kept killing, in the hope that one day...he could stop. That he would never have to raise a hand in violence again, would never have to look to his sides to see if his friends were still alive, could finally give up the mantle of the cold killer for the warm protector. 'I kill so I can stop killing, I said these words to Kairi and I meant them. But Kairi...she is innocent. She shouldn't have the blood of the slain on her hands, especially human blood. Untainted human blood. Ivy used the right words with the wrong intentions, Kairi could never kill someone who has no ill will toward her.' So when Kairi did answer Ivy's question it came as no surprise that she was hesitant, her voice shaking in fear. "I can't, I won't hurt someone who's never done anything against me. But I won't stand still as someone tries to kill me. But I won't kill, I will never kill." Sora almost heard Ivy nod her head, could almost feel the smile touching her lips. "Thought so. Well...I can. And I'll enjoy it too." Everyone, Ichigo and Renji included, shuddered at the coldness in Ivy's voice, the pure unbridled hate. But Sora had felt this hatred before, he had been in the middle of that hatred before, and he knew where it came from. Whispering softer than he'd ever whispered before, not even a murmur, he told Ivy what he knew. "Don't act like you don't feel anything. You feel fear just like us, you feel misery just like I do. Hatred from sadness is the worst kind, a hate that will burn you alive with its coldness. You have friends but you don't use them, instead you use the dawn to feel." At his whispered words Ivy hissed, a hiss so low only he heard it, and he would have missed it if he hadn't tapped into Anti's power. "You know nothing!" Funny that she screamed so softly it wasn't even a breath. But Sora heard, he heard the hatred covering her sadness like armour, armour no one had ever stripped away. "Crying in the light of the sun, reminding yourself that your still alive. 'If it hurts it means I'm still alive.' That's the thought you've clung to for so long. But living in hatred isn't a life. Living a life in fear is a life half lived, you know this so you let the hate fill you, letting the rage change you."

Sora fell silent as he felt something, something terrible and yet...beautiful. Like Pandora opening the box Sora felt a terrible feeling sweep through him, so much dark emotion he felt his own heart stutter. With a snarl more akin to a succubus flying out of hell Ivy jumped Sora, her hands going for his neck just as surely as his own hands shoved her away. The table they surrounded shattered as her body slammed into it, with a growl still coming from deep in her throat. "Oh hell..." Sora backed away, his fingers scrambling behind him as he crawled away, his heartbeat thumping in his ears as fear swept through him. Ivy jumped again but just like before she shrieked, giving Sora enough time to raise his arm to shield his face. Her teeth sinking into his forearm with frightening ease Sora swung his arm, the back of his hand slapping into Ivy's chest as she hurtled away from him. As hot blood trickled down his arm Sora stood up, ears pricked for the slightest sound, his arms raised to shield his face. But from the shouts Renji and Ichigo gave Sora was pretty sure they had her, and from the cussing and growls of pain she was putting up a fight.

Kairi rushed forward and stood in front of Sora, watching as Ichigo grabbed Ivy in a chokehold as Renji grabbed her wrists. But Ivy was still struggling, her feet lashing out to kick Renji. Her mouth still dripping Sora's blood Ivy bared her teeth at Kairi and her eyes flashed, giving Kairi enough warning to jump out of the way. But Ivy was smart, she wanted Kairi out of the way so she could burn Sora, but Sora was smart as well, he held his hands out in front of him and a wall of fire sprung from his palms, giving him enough time to jump out of the red fire's way.

Sora rolled back onto his feet and heard Ivy growl like an animal, Ichigo and Renji still cussing and heard her growl again, making Sora think. 'She wants to sound like an animal. The animal instinct protects her just as I protect Kairi, it shields her from the hurt, the sadness. But she's not, she's more human than anyone I've ever met, her sheer vulnerability making her that more human.' Sora walked forward, his arms to the side, the image of harmlessness. "You're not an animal Ivy. Hate and rage all you want, you're still human." Sora's voice was soft, gentle, the tone one he would use to coax a frightened doe from hiding. But he knew Ivy was more dangerous than any doe, than any lion, and that made him care for her.

Ivy looked at Sora, looked at the sweet boy she now trusted, and grew still in the grip of her captors. "How would you know?" Her voice contained a pleading she hated but she made herself let go of the hate and rage, allowing herself to feel. And from the look on his face she knew the answer. "Because you feel love, you feel sadness, you feel loneliness. An animal can never feel these things, you know this, I know this and Yaela knows this." Ivy nodded her head, even though Sora was blind, and she felt the oddest prickling at the back of her eyes, tears welling up. Ivy clamped down on the tears but they flowed anyway, spilling over her cheeks and onto her shirt, her lips quivering at the overwhelming emotion. She tugged at Renji's hold and he let go, shock at her tears paralysing him. She walked forward and gently took Ichigo's hands away, his hands gently sliding from her neck, and walked forward. Kairi blocked her way but she stepped aside with a gentle smile, a look of hope and sympathy on her face. And as Ivy passed Kairi touched her shoulder, just a gentle touch but it meant everything to Ivy. Ivy lowered her head and her tears flowed faster, huge drops rolling down her cheeks.

Ivy stood in front of Sora and he raised his arms, Ivy launching herself into his protective embrace. As his arms encircled her Ivy wept, she wept for everything she hadn't wept for. Her parents, the village priest, Barst's death, Uriel's guidance, her own life she had so ravaged by hate. All of it came out, her whole body shaking at the release she felt, a huge weight falling from her shoulders. As she cried Sora whispered in her ear, sweet nothings that meant little to her, his hands sweeping through her hair all the while. With a sigh of content Ivy closed her eyes and laid her cheek on Sora's shoulder, her tears staining his shirt.

Sora pushed Ivy away but kept his hands on her arms, giving her comfort but allowing her to break away if she wanted to. He felt her tears soak into his skin from where she'd cried, tears dripping onto the floor beneath them at a steady pace. While Ivy still cried Sora called Kairi over, just a simple gesture, and handed Ivy to his lover. "I'll be back, I'm just going to take care of something." Sora stepped away, his hands clenched into fists and activated Divine Drive, his wings bursting through his shirt with a sound akin to paper tearing. He heard Ichigo start to say something but he was already gone, using his Light once more to know what was around him. Already he was exhausted, using his Light was incredibly taxing, along with Divine Drive it would border on suicidal if he continued as he was. Combine that with the fact that most of his power only worked if he can see what he wanted, he _needed_ eyes, if he remained as he was his power will shrivel and he would become a mere husk of his former self.

Seconds later Sora stood in front of Yamamoto and his elder council, namely Unohana, Shunsui and Ukitake, a scowl on his face. "I want this done. Now!" Sora heard a tired sigh, possibly Ukitake, and he snorted. "Arrogance will be the death of you Yamamoto. Give me what I want and I'll free you all from my curse." A flutter of footsteps and whispered words followed his comment. He stood there for an undetermined amount of time before Ukitake spoke. "All right." With these two simple words a silence fell over the room, a silence Sora recognised as the presence of old power. But he didn't move, waiting for the Soul Reapers to come to him. And so they did, Yamamoto approached, his footsteps echoing in his council chamber and his staff sharp against the tiles. "We will be ready in two days time. We must prepare and debate how we shall do this. Return at dawn on the third day, we shall seal this deal then." Sora nodded and walked away, feeling tension build in his chest. 'I'll need Nyx to help me, maybe Erebus as well.'

Kairi led Ivy away, leaving Renji and Ichigo as well as everyone else far behind them. When she finally reached the privacy of the room Ukitake had given her she set Ivy down on the bed, the older girl still sobbing uncontrollably. Kairi sat down on the end of the bed, knawing on her already raw lip as she considered what she should do now. 'John used to hold me but that never helped, that just made me cry all the more. I ran away when I could, I ran and ran until I found a place I can be alone. But Ivy's been alone for so long, that will only make it worse.' When Kairi felt a faint itch in the back of her mind she ignored it, focusing on the situation at hand. 'Daughter, she mourns. Time heals all wounds but wounds can fester, and hers have festered for so long she will never be healed. All you can do is guide her emotions with your own. Cry for her sorrow and laugh for her joy. Be the companion she never had and she will learn to live with her hate, learn to let go of the rage.' Kairi thanked Nyx, for it had to be the incarnation of Night, and laid her hand over Ivy's, the older girl stiffening slightly at the touch. But Ivy didn't draw away, which gave Kairi all the reason to what she did. She drew closer to Ivy and wrapped her arms around her neck, her cheek brushing Ivy's, Ivy's tears staining Kairi's cheeks as well.

Slowly, hesitantly, as if she didn't know what she was doing or why she was doing it Ivy raised her hands and wove them into Kairi's, the contact giving her even more comfort. And that's how Sora found them, Kairi's tears mingling with hers, both sobbing into the others chest, their tears finally running dry when they were falling asleep, true emotional exhaustion driving them to sleep. But Sora merely covered them with a blanket and said something that Ivy caught snatches of. It was a prayer, or a hope for a prayer, that wished for peace and happiness. But peace and happiness never came to those who spilled blood, even if it was their own. Sora knew this, his words cold but beautifully said, the prayers words distorted to include death, an end of death and the beginning. When Sora left Ivy's mind plunged into the recess of sleep, sweet dreams the likes of which she hadn't had since she was a child. And the last though she had before she lost herself would make her laugh if she was awake, but now it frightened her to death, now that she felt once more. 'The descent into Hell is easy.'

**Review! Please?**


	16. Maintaining peace

**Next chapter: Maintaining peace.**

**The chapter's name makes no sense but I kinda like it. I mean, when has peace ever made sense at all? War is understandable because it is human fault, but peace is for the divine and the damned.**

**Enjoy.**

Sora sat outside the door leading to Kairi's room, partly guarding it and partly jealous that he hadn't made Ivy feel. But while he watched over his two friends he meditated, meditated on what he wanted to accomplish. And before long he slipped from his mind, opening his eyes to behold a familiar room with a familiar woman sitting in a onyx chair. "Hello Nyx." And the woman, Nyx, smiled a beautiful smile, like the sun rising over the ocean. "My son." Her greeting was pleasant but Sora was uncomfortable, for he wanted to ask for help, something he hated to do, he disliked asking for help, especially from someone who has helped him so much before. "Nyx...I need your help." Sora's voice was quite but filled with emotion, his hope and his fear, and especially his strength. "Yes, and I shall give it. But Erebus shall not, he is preoccupied at the moment, and he shall be unreachable for the following weeks and months." Sora nodded, curious but unwilling to pry. But Nyx fixed him in a stare of such tender love he asked anyway, after which she laughed. "He is trying to locate one of my kind, the oldest and most powerful immortals. But we are not as easy to find as you should think. Eternity is more than enough time to find a place nigh un-findable without adequate direction. So far he has only managed to find the younger ones, immortals who have been worshipped countless times before but for the time being they are ignored." She shrugged her pale shoulders and rose from her onyx chair, motioning for Sora to approach with a wave of her hand. "Come, I wish to see what has become of you."

Sora stepped forward and Nyx took his face between her hands, her touch gentle with her eyes searching his face. She sighed and smiled. "Yes...I see now." She stepped away, turning her back on Sora. But he had seen the shadow passing over her face, her lips pinched and her eyes tight. He touched her arm and turned her back to face him. "What did you see?" Sora stared at Nyx but a veil seemed to fall over her face, hiding all emotion. "Nothing." He shook his head and laid both hands on her shoulders, staring deep into her eyes all the while. "You have the power, you can see everything that can, will and shall happen to me so don't say you see nothing. If you see nothing it means I'm dead and even then you should see me, even if I am a shade." He tightened his grip on her shoulders but she didn't seem to notice, staring into his eyes as she was. With a delicate shrug the veil fell from her face, showing regret and love eternal. "Do you truly wish to follow the road you now travel? Is the life you seek to destroy worth the one you could one day save?" Sora didn't react, didn't breathe. He just stared at Nyx for a second before he cocked his head to the side. "I don't know. What do you mean?" Nyx chuckled, a sound she rarely made, and just shook her head."I still need to know a few secrets."

Sora nodded his head and closed his eyes, content now that he knew Nyx would help him. "Sora?" He opened his eyes and watched in shock as Nyx bit her lip, a look of desperation on her face. "When you meet _her _make sure you know what you're doing. Once you agree to the contract it is binding, no going back. And when you sign you can no longer call upon my help the way you do now. I will be there to make sure the deal is fair but I can't interfere with her laws, it would break the very law I helped create. So..." She walked forward and kissed him on the lips, just a kiss, something she never did unless it was necessary. "Take care." He opened his mouth to respond but he was gone, someone shaking his shoulder.

Sora raised his head and the shaking stopped, hearing someone tell him to get up."Rukia...What happened?" He had the distinct feeling Rukia was looking at him with wide eyes, whether in humour or fear he didn't know. "Umm, ahh, what are you doing?" It was then that Sora realised what she meant. He was on his back, his one arm thrown carelessly over his face. "Sleeping. Why?" Rukia chuckled and he heard her hair flop onto her shoulders, as if she was shaking her head slowly. "The captain wants to see you. If you're not busy. That is." Sora shook his head and stood up, moaning in discomfort as his body stretched. She started walking and he followed, his hearing replacing his eyes for once. While they walked Rukia was silent, her quite breathing and light footfalls the only indication she was still with him. When she eventually stopped she bid Sora enter and he did, not Ukitake's room or the head captains but Shunsui's , the room smelling like sake and misuse. "Yo Sora. Been a while."

Sora greeted Shunsui and the older man moved, Sora hearing the clink of glass and clay. "Sake?" Sora opened his mouth to refuse but then he thought about it. 'What can it hurt?' So he nodded, Shunsui making a sound that was somehow both satisfied and amused. A sound of dripping followed the grunt and within a minute Sora was holding a cup in his hand, the burning of the sake warming his cold face and hands. Shunsui was on his second cup and Sora was nearly finished with his first. "Y'know, I've never been drunk. Sure I've been poisoned and doped plenty of times but I've never tasted alcohol before. I don't know why but for some reason when I thought about getting drunk I thought Kairi would be disappointed." Shunsui made a sympathetic sound and refilled his cup, along with Sora's and sighed. "I hear you, woman don't like it when I'm drunk either. Not that they've met me when I'm sober but..." Sora heard him shrug and take a swig from the sake. Sora raised his own cup and took a sip, the sake cold in his mouth but burning in his throat.

Hours later Sora opened the door to Kairi's room and sighed, the warmth the sake instilled fading away. Because it seems he had a high tolerance for alcohol, six bottles of sake later and he was barely tipsy, his footing sure and his mind barely fuzzy. He closed the door behind him and faced the room. The scent of annoyance stung his nose and he pressed a sleeve against his nose, twisting his lips against the bitter smell. For some apparent reason his available senses were stronger than usual, he could heard a Soul Reaper's heart beat a hundred paces away and could taste their awe on his tongue. But his smell was the strongest, not necessarily a good thing, for he could smell even the subtlest of emotions, no matter how weak, until they overwhelmed him. So he had known Kairi was waiting for him, Ivy absent so Kairi could have some privacy, her disappointment and anger so strong he had smelled her from Shunsui's room. "Yes Kairi?" Her anger flared and he winched, almost certain she'd slap him, but she merely stroked his cheek before moving away. "I missed you today. Where'd you go?"

Sora knew Kairi, he knew her better than he knew himself but she still surprised him, and every time she surprised him he loved her more. So when he told her he'd tried to get himself drunk on Shunsui's sake and she laughed he accepted it, he didn't understand it but he accepted it. But when she stopped laughing she took his face between her palms and held him like that, probably staring at him."You're not drunk." It wasn't a question but Sora nodded. "Not enough. I'm barely buzzed." Her hands tightened and she kissed him, her lips barely fluttering against his own but his body responded. His hands reached down and pulled her toward him, picking her up so she was above him, his arms locked around her waist as her hands twisted into his hair. She pulled away and chuckled, her breath caressing his skin. "Drunk enough." He neither understood what this meant or cared, his body was burning and Kairi's skin was sweet and cool to the touch.

But when she started taking his clothes off with shaky fingers he pushed her away, realisation dawning on him. He pulled his shirt down again and he took a deep, calming breath. "Where's Ivy?" But she just chuckled, a low husky sound, and pulled him toward her. "Who cares? Come here." She pulled him closer again but he ducked out of her grasp, moving to stand behind her. "Come on Sora." She fell backward and Sora, instinctively, caught her. She purred like a cat and bit his fingers playfully, her mouth soft and warm against his hard flesh. 'Is she high?' Sora moved away and Kairi fell, falling smack on her but with a bemused expression on her face. At that very moment the door burst open, followed with the sound of laughter.

Ivy looked at the scene in front of her and felt her heart leap, amusement lighting up her eyes. But the situation was serious, especially since it was happening to Kairi. As she helped Sora get Kairi back on her feet she took Kairi's hands in her own and pinned them behind the younger girl's back, getting a purr of excitement as reaction. But Ivy wasn't playing, she dragged Kairi away from Sora and held her still before turning her around. Ivy fixed Kairi's in a stare and the red haired girl smiled, leaning forward as a cat might if it wanted to have its ears scratched. Ivy became curious and she let Kairi go, the doped up teenager rubbing her back on Ivy's legs as she crouched beside her. Ivy smiled crookedly and laid her hand on Kairi's head, a purr goading her on. With some satisfaction Ivy started playing with Kairi's hair, Kairi enjoying it as a cat might enjoy being cuddled. 'She is high. Must be my presence. I am part Fey after all.' So Ivy just stood there playing with Kairi as if she was a kitten, her eyes bright with joy and her mouth curved up into a pleasant smile. "Sora...my presence does this sometimes. She took some of my tears into herself and my Fey blood has tainted her. Its effects will wear off in a few hours...but you should keep her with you at all times. She's acting like she would as if she is doping ketamine, not that you're complaining. So, you've been warned, enjoy." And she stepped from the room, leaving Kairi in Sora's care. She heard Kairi growl in annoyance before she started purring again. And that, and only that, made Ivy begin to miss her sister. 'I've barely thought of her. Then again, I haven't been the warmest sister. I don't remember ever telling her I love her. Nor she me.' Shaking her head in sadness Ivy let the darkness of night take her.

Sora played with Kairi's hair as she laid her head on his chest, her feet curled up beneath her and her hands digging into Sora's side. Even though she annoyed him he liked the situation, because Kairi told him everything that went through her head, most of which were so random and weird he had to question whether Kairi was in fact sane. While some thoughts were funny most of them were...not. Because Kairi had been thinking about the situation about John, Kairi's adoptive and overprotective father, and Sora, Kairi's childhood friend and recent lover. "Why can't you just get along? It's not like you have nothing in common, both of you are kinda oblivious and neither of you like the thought about me going to rave clubs. I mean, sure rave clubs have all the drugs and whatnot and the music _sucks_ but the people are nice. Sure, the four people I talked to at the last one tried to sell me some weed and ecstasy but let's face it: If I wanted to get high I just have to ask Selphie, she get's high on every day that ends with y and she's still fine. Yes her grades have gone down but that's not saying much and she's getting easier with lamer guys but she's never had very high standards." That was in fact true, if a guy could smile a pleasant smile and he could give a half-hearted compliment Selphie automatically fell in love with the guy just to dump him a week or so later. "Let's face it Sora: she asked you out and you said no. Why was that anyway? Were you afraid she could give you a gift that kept on giving or the fact that she _asked you out?_" The last part Kairi nearly screamed, her nails digging uncomfortably deep into Sora's side as she arched her back in a very cat-like stretch.

Sora stopped playing with Kairi's hair in shock, her latest statement shocking him to his core. "What?" She squirmed at the volume of his voice, because ketamine made you hypersensitive to touch, light and sound, and growled, informing him that he'd stopped petting her. He hastily started stroking Kairi's hair and she relaxed, curling backward so she lay half in and out of his lap, her head resting gently on his thigh as she sighed, probably ready for a cat-nap. "I told you, you're the first boy I kissed. And the first one I loved." And she fell quite again, her breathing becoming deep and steady as she fell asleep.

Sora lowered his head and smiled a sad smile, his body growing still as he listened to Kairi breathe, his heartbeat slowing to match hers. As he grew sleepy he considered having a nap and he felt his mind becoming clouded and his body growing heavy. Before he knew it he was asleep, his dreams swirling around him in dizzying clouds as he slept. Just before he woke his mind grew clear as day and his body grew light, making him wonder if he wasn't awake already. 'You will never have her.' As he looked down with his mind's eye he saw himself crouched in front of a hidden person, only their black eyes visible. But he wasn't as he normally was, his face was drawn and pale and his eyes bloodshot. But he ignored it all when he caught sight of his eyes. They were a dark blue, a deep midnight blue, desperation shining alongside pure unbridled hate. 'If you think I'll just roll over and die you couldn't be more wrong. I'll kill you, even if it's the last thing I do.' The black eyes of the stranger laughed, deep loathing and disgust shining in their dark depths. 'And how will you do that? You can no longer move and your weapon is broken. You have no friends left and your body is crumbling. You have nothing left to fight me with. You are weak, a broken vessel for a mistrusted and abandoned power. You will die, alone and unloved, for you failed to save a single child.' And Sora saw that the stranger was correct, his crouching body was scarred and broken, not a single inch of skin unmarked by wounds or gore. A shattered blade was clutched in his hands, and upon closer inspection he saw that it was the hilt and last three inched of Last Hope, the blade so stained with blood and scratched it was barely recognisable. The only thing not covered in blood and gore was Sora's eyes, eyes that spoke of a hate that couldn't be described in a thousand words.

As Sora watched the scene unfold his own self stood up, clutching a burnt and obviously broken arm, and blinked his eyes, slowly. 'You want to know what I can do? Do you really want to know?' And as Sora opened his eyes, his lids moving back over his burning eyes, and fixed the stranger in a stare. And as he whispered a word his blue eyes seemed to fill with blood while his pupil shrank into a mere pinprick. 'You want to know! I will kill you! Even if it's the last thing I do!' And with a shout he lunged forward, his eyes glowing red and froze, his eyes locked with the stranger's, a look of concentration on his face. Within a minute the stranger was screaming, black hands clutching a black head in agony. But Sora just stood like he was, his eyes still locked with the stranger's, his eyes focused. And as he slowly blinked the stranger collapsed, whimpering where he was. 'And now you will die, die knowing that I will live, die knowing that with your death peace will finally be reached.' As Sora stopped speaking he opened his right hand and a flame appeared, an odd black flame that writhed like a living thing. But before he could touch the stranger with the black flames his right eye started to bleed, but he merely clenched his teeth and dropped the black flame. The flame touched the stranger and Sora laughed, a cruel and dark sound. And as he watched the stranger rose up and shoved a black blade through Sora's heart...

Sora gasped when he felt someone hit him, raising his arm he rolled to his feet. "What?" But he relaxed when he felt Kairi caress his arm, speaking in a sleep-muffled voice. "Wake up Sora. It's just a dream, just a dream." And Sora let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd held in, tension draining away, leaving him to clench his hands into fists to stop them from shaking. His whole body was covered in cold sweat, terror pumping through his hammering heart. As his heart slowed he fell to his knees, weak all of a sudden. "What's happening to me?" His voice was rough, hoarse as if from screaming. Maybe he had been screaming, maybe his screaming is what woke Kairi and had people running around outside the door. If he'd had eyes he would be looking at his hands, his scarred hands that were shivering like a coward's. But Kairi laid her hand on his shoulder and held him, his shivering stopping soon and the terror leaving him. And as he laid his chin on Kairi's shoulder he asked himself again. "What's happening to me?"

Kairi's breath caught in her throat as she swallowed past the hard lump that was lodged in her throat, unsure about what she should say. And as his shivering completely stopped she finally answered, her voice soft and filled with love. "I don't know Sora, I just don't know." But she knew, she had always known. 'This way of life is torture, to the people he kills and to himself. All this death and rage he's caused is coming back, coming back to haunt him. And soon...it's going to have me screaming myself awake as well. And I'm sure Riku already has this problem, he's not sleeping and he reacts to any strange sound or movement. I even found him hitting a wall the other day, the stone crumbling as his hands bled. He wouldn't say what was bothering him but I know, it's the regret all people who've killed eventually feel.' Kairi let Sora hug her for another minute before she moved away, rubbing at the headache that was trying to split her head in two. As she rubbed she heard Sora stand up, the bed springs creaking as he stood up. "Why does my head hurt this much? I thought you're the one who got drunk, not me." She heard Sora draw in a sharp breath and she opened her eyes, seeing Sora bleach to a pale white once again. "How much do you remember?" She frowned and shook her head, before she remembered he was blind. "Not much, just babbling and you playing with my hair. Why did you do that anyway?" Her surprised but curious tone forced a chuckle out of him. "You were high on Ivy." Kairi frowned. 'High on Ivy? Is that some kind of drug? But why would Sora poison me? He doesn't need to, I'm the one who insists and he pulls away. Fact is, I'm trying to find a drug that might, and that's a big might if I say so myself, loosen him up enough to not kill him. Weed is out, even though I've seen a couple bushes just outside the city.' Kairi watched as Sora grinned, which made him look like a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and blush, his cheeks turning pink. "What do you mean? High on Ivy, that some kind of drug?" At her question Sora chuckled and his blush grew deeper, his cheeks the colour of tomatoes. "You were high _on _Ivy. The person, the girl we both know and fear but can't seem to away from. You slept with her after I went to the captains." At that Kairi blushed, blushed at the concept of Sora finding her in bed with Ivy as well as the few hazy memories from the night before.

Sora chuckled as he stroked Kairi's cheek, her soft skin caressing his with warmth and comfort. "We should go." He felt her nod but neither of them moved, neither of them seemed inclined to leave the others presence for even a minute. With a final sigh Sora drew away, his hand moving down Kairi's back until he reached her waist, wrapping his arm around her hips until she was pressed against him. He kissed her lightly on the cheek before he took her hand and opened the door, the Soul Reapers who've been eavesdropping falling on him. "Find what you were looking for Soul Reapers?" Sora's tone was warm but rough, just enough malice added to have the Soul Reapers back away with a quick apology. He turned back and bid Kairi lead, wherever she wanted to go he would follow. But these gentle words were more than simple words, they were a part of an oath he made every day, to protect and serve Kairi as best he could. And she led him, often murmuring about where she was taking him. And before long they reached their favourite place, a hill that overlooked the entirety of Soul Society, the sun bright above and the sky cloudless.

And there they remained, speaking little but communicating nonetheless, until Ivy found them. "Hey!" Kairi waved and Sora turned his head with a smile, his face upturned so it was bathed in warm sunlight. And she ran up the hill, a basket in one hand and a sack strapped to her back. "I come bearing gifts." Sora chuckled, obviously laughing at the random accent that had taken route in Ivy's voice, an odd lilting shimmer that flowed from one word to the other. It was beautiful and rough, smooth but ragged. "Eta, what is that? Russian? Romanian? Irish?" Ivy flashed a smile and set the basket and sack down before settling down on the ground beside Kairi, settling because sitting was too stiff a word, Ivy almost danced in her movements, no matter how small they were and sitting down was no exception. Kairi was jealous; loath she was to admit it. But she crushed her jealousy and smiled a sweet smile, glad that Ivy was actually showing real emotion, her face glowing with joy as her eyes shone with a light other than hate. "Fey actually, my people speak with the earth and the earth has its own language. I can't speak it but the accent is there nonetheless, and whether I want to use it is entirely up to me." With the pleasantries over and done with Ivy opened the basket and Kairi took a deep breath, the air suddenly suffused with the smell of food. "I made us some dinner." When she saw the look of doubt that crossed Sora's face she giggled, a sound that made Kairi's heart leap in pure joy, and smiled again. "Don't worry, unlike Yaela I can actually cook. Not exceptionally but good enough."

Sora smiled as he heard Ivy's accent break through again. 'It makes her sound happy, like she doesn't have any worries at all.' He smiled again and stood up, Ivy spreading the woollen blanket she'd brought so they wouldn't have to sit on the cold earth and sat back down. "You should use your accent, it suits you." And it did, her voice danced in his ear just as she danced with every movement she made. "I will at that." And she did, her old, dreary accent falling away so her Fey was heard with every word she said, the air suffused with energy. "Now, I didn't know what either of you like so I made due, chicken and steak, calamari and soul, ribs and salad." Sora ate everything so he let Ivy fill his plate when she asked if she could, a plate handed to him with the necessary cutlery.

With his very first bite Sora knew Ivy had downplayed her skills, the food was amazing. The chicken was moist but not overly so, the calamari buttery but not sickeningly so, the salad crisp and fresh. "Ivy...this is amazing. Where'd you learn to cook?" He heard her shrug. "Uriel is more than a warrior, he can cook anything he lays his hands on and make it taste amazing, no matter how disgusting it might be beforehand. He taught me when I asked him and we stuck with it, even though Barst and Yaela said it was a useless hobby. I loved it, and so did Uriel. He was more of a father than my real father ever was, still is. No matter my problem he'd help me best he could, if it was my mess he'd give me advice but he'd have me clean it up. 'It's your mess, fix it. And if you can't try again. And if it still doesn't work out I'll help you, no matter how bad it is.' He told me this every time I screwed up, and every time it came true. I tried and tried until eventually my mess cleared up." For some reason that made Sora crack up. Imagining Ivy with an apron and spatula in hand with a smear of dough on her cheek with a twelve year old Uriel beside her, his voice containing wisdom of one beyond his years, her eyes wide as he taught her how to cook. "I can see it. Random as it is, it is kinda cool."

Ivy blushed at Sora's compliment and continued with her meal, finding her plate clean she reached inside the basket and pulled a container from within its depths and waited. When Sora and Kairi were both finished with their meals she took their plates and stowed them back into the basket with her own and handed them clean ones, her hands certain as she dealt with objects she was more knowledgeable of than fighting. When Sora and Kairi both had their plates and spoons she opened the container she'd taken from the basket and smiled a self-satisfied smile, the sponge cake perfect. She sliced it into even portions and spooned a one into Sora and Kairi's plates. When they took the first bite and made a sound of enjoyment she dug into her own piece. 'Delicious...thank you Uriel.' And for a second she could hear the older warrior laugh a goodhearted laugh.

Kairi took the last bite and swallowed, her stomach full and her heart filled with joy. 'She's doing better. Much better than me.' She sat and watched Sora and Ivy, the latter's eyes twinkling as she chewed merrily on her cake. When Ivy was finished she turned her stare toward the sky, now filled with stars as the sun had well and truly set. "Beautiful. The moon's so big, the stars so bright." She heard a sigh and she saw Ivy stare up into the sky as well, her eyes darker than usual, more the colour of the sky at midnight than the ocean at midday. "Do you know why the moon is so large Kairi? The stars so bright?" Kairi shook her head no and Ivy chuckled, her eyes still upturned. "This world is young, the sky clean of all human corruption and the stars bright with life. The moon will darken the older this world gets, as this world's internal Light and Darkness stabilises as time passes." Kairi looked upward again and nodded, the moon almost three times the size than the one that overlooked Destiny Islands. She heard someone grumble and she looked down, Sora's face hidden from her as he turned his back on her. "I'm sorry." He just laughed, a cruel sound that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. "No you're not. Why do humans always apologise for things that's not their fault? It's beside the point, saying you're sorry for something you never did." Kairi felt her breath hitch on its way out, a lump blocking her airway as tears pooled into her eyes. But she breathed around the lump and swallowed, the lump growing bigger nonetheless. "I don't know. Why do you keep protecting me? You don't have a reason to stop every sword, every word, but you do. You keep protecting me, why?"

Sora growled low in his throat, Kairi's tear-dampened voice hurting him more than any knife could. "Because you need protecting. I kill so you don't have to, I protect so you don't need to kill. You are my Light, if you are safe and pure, I am safe and pure, no matter how dark my heart or how mutilated my flesh. I will kill so you don't have to, I told you this before and I tell you again, you are my life now." He heard Kairi's tears finally break through the armour she'd erected, her gasps for breath awfully loud in the blackness of his mind. He heard Ivy console the girl and Kairi eventually stopped, only a faint sniffle heard. "You make it sound as if you're not human Sora. Why?" Ivy's voice was harsh, especially in her Fey accent, the words brittle and sharp like shards of ice. "Am I human? I don't think I am anymore. I've died and yet I'm still breathing. That in itself is unnatural, just as my having a Heartless and a Nobody living within me is unnatural. I am damned, whether I like it or not. Just as surely as you live in hate I live in misery, just as you revel in rage I revel in sadness. I am, and I will always be, the one who chooses to suffer in silence than to scream in joy."

Ivy looked at Sora, neither pity nor sympathy in her heart. Instead, and this surprised her greatly, sadness. But she neither felt any rage or jealousy for Sora, he was one of the few people she actually liked for who he was. Her being sad for someone she liked was something she wasn't used to, something she didn't understand. And in her arrogance she said nothing, lest she make the situation worse than it was. So she merely stared at him and chewed on her lip, the strangest feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. As the feeling grew she realised it was acceptance, she accepted that she was ignorant, something she would never have done two days ago. 'Daughter, he may be cold and cruel but you were once like him as well. He has yet to accept the lives he has taken as justice and not murder. Give him comfort and he will heal. He gave you hope now you must give him hope as well.' Ivy dipped her head in gratitude and heard a warm hum in return. Before she could speak a great wind swept through her mind and Nyx was gone, for it had to be Nyx, leaving Ivy to consider what she had been told.

Ivy touched Sora's cheek with the very tips of her fingers, his skin cold, and tilted his head back so she could survey his face better. "Sora...you can only endure so much, but you are far beyond that threshold. So far that anyone else would long ago have killed themselves for fear of going insane. That in itself makes you unique, not damned or cursed, but special. You are strong, strong and unbending. But you must learn to bend a little, or you'll break." Sora's face became hard and suffused with such malicious intent even Ivy flinched, but it vanished a second later. "Not if you're strong enough." His voice was casual, so casual in fact Ivy smacked him for not being serious enough.

Sora rubbed his head and muttered about girls and their raging hormones, earning another smack from Ivy. "Stop that." His brow furrowed and he folded over backwards, like he would after a full day of playing on the Island, and listened to the sounds around him. His blood rushing through his veins, his heartbeat, Kairi's faint breathing, Ivy's hair moving over her shirt as she shook her head. "This is hopeless. No wonder Kairi called you a lazy bum." At her mocking tone scowled and raised his right hand, summoning a small ball of Darkness there, and began to engulf it in his Light, a writhing black centre surrounded by swirling waves of golden Light. "Do you know why I never use this in a fight? Why I never use my Darkness and my Light at the same time? Like Danny? Why it's either one or the other?" At her no he sat back up, the sphere of opposing strengths still held in his hand. "Because of this..." And with these simple words he forced the Light into Darkness, the solid core parting like ice meeting fire. But when a balance was reached within the two forces a sudden arch of red lightning descended to the ground, followed by the sound of a spark striking a forest of the driest tinder. With a loud bang the orb exploded, a consuming red wave ascending skyward. When the fire died Sora chuckled, his fingers blackened and his face flushed from the heat. "That's why. Vanitas changed something within Danny, something unnatural. And its devouring him, Light purifies Darkness just as surely Darkness devours Light, there is no balance. It's either the one or the other, if a balance is reached it goes up like a nuke, either killing everyone or doing nothing."

Ivy looked at Sora, his blackened fingers and flushed face, his expression betraying nothing while his voice betrayed everything. "You miss him, don't you?" His nod was arrogant, but it contained a hurt that surprised her, Sora never showed hurt, he showed kindness and strength. "Why?" He smiled a bitter smile and shook his head. "He is my will. My one and only Student. I gave him his keyblade and he screwed me over, he wants to take Kairi for himself and kill me. Now what does that say about me? A Student becomes psychotic and willingly sacrificed his heart so he could become strong enough to kill me. And back then I had Inferno, now I have nothing." Sora's smile grew wider, wilder and with more hurt. "I have nothing." He repeated the words softly, as if he wanted to make it true with only his words. But Ivy just stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders, pulled him to his feet and threw him down the hill. He came to an abrupt stop when he collided with a tree, his back digging into the trunk while the tree shook. Sora did nothing, as if he felt nothing. And maybe he didn't feel anything, Ivy would never know.

Sora exhaled and felt his back burst into agony, splinters driven into his flesh as blood beaded around the torn skin. But he gave no reaction, he just stood up like nothing had happened and waited, knowing even then that Kairi would come to see if he was alright. And when she did he nodded and apologised, feeling Ivy's stare bore into his skull all the while. When Kairi said something about it getting late Ivy agreed, and the three of them made their way down the hill, the brief scuffle between Ivy and Sora forgotten if not forgiven...

Kairi shook Sora and he woke with a start, his hand a fist against her back as she caressed his face gently. "Nightmare?" He nodded and settled back, his face slick with sweat and his hair a tangled mess on the pillow. She kissed his cheek and pushed herself up on her elbows, regarding Sora with eyes lined in shadow. But she ignored her sleep-deprivation, Sora more important than a few hours of sleep. She reached out and smoothed his hair away from his face, regarding him all the while. "Wanna talk about it?" Her voice was gentle, loving, low and intimate. He shook his head and Kairi leaned down, laying her head on Sora's chest as she closed her eyes. "Alright, we still have a few hours till dawn. Try to sleep if you can. If you can't wake me up and we'll talk...if you want to." He nodded and started stroking her back, his fingers trembling slightly but his touch gentle, and soon, Kairi fell asleep, Sora's heart hammering against her ear and his touch soothing.

Sora stepped from the small bathroom attached to Kairi's room and dressed in his old clothes, shirt silky and his jacket as it should be while his pants grazed his heels. He opened the door and kissed Kairi goodbye as she slept, feeling dawn's light heat his cheek as he stepped from their room, Rukia greeting him in hushed tones. As they walked Rukia explained where they were going, on the very top of Sōkyoku Hill, for that is where most binding pacts were signed and negotiated. Also, most people wouldn't see what was going on because that part of Seireitei was prohibited from most Soul Reapers, not even the captains were allowed there without just cause. By the time they reached their destination Rukia had fallen silent, the air tense as Sora remained silent, something he never did, no matter how stressed or busy he was.

Sora listened to Rukia walk away, her footsteps coming to an abrupt halt as she flash-stepped away, leaving Sora alone with thirteen silent and cautious captains and one immortal woman. Yamamoto opened the meeting, as was his right as head captain and host. "We have assembled on account to the curse Sora, Master and Warrior of Destiny, laid upon the race of Shinigami, to break this curse and to sign a pact to prevent such an occurrence from coming to pass in the future." The captains bid everyone welcome, Sora and Nyx, and bid them to speak. Sora had no idea what to say so Nyx touched his cheek and stepped forward, her voice strong and sure on the airy cliff overlooking Soul Society. "Aye, to break this curse we have gathered, as the ancient Law states we must, we shall negotiate the treaty and binding oaths. How plead yea?" Everyone, Sora included gave their consent, and as such Nyx clapped her hands and the wind fell silent around them, giving utter peace.

Sora listened to the Soul Reapers give their conditions only to have Nyx denounce their conditions and plead her own, only to have Yamamoto state that it was in some way lacking in strength before laying down more conditions. Finally, after almost four or five hours of meaningless bickering Sora stepped forward, his head pounding in annoyance and the splitting headache the constant babbling had given him. "Enough, we have given counsel and now we must swear our oath. Are we in agreement?" Nyx opened with her yay and the Soul Reapers followed suit, every last one of them. "Good, now Nyx has already set up the scroll of binding. All we have to do is sign." A murmur ran through the Soul Reapers but none objected. Nyx clapped her hands again and the sound of something heavy striking the ground was heard.

Nyx looked at the table she had summoned and snapped her fingers, the contract she had gone over countless times rolled out the length of the fifty-foot table. The parchment wasn't parchment at all, it was woven thread stamped into refined leather, to ensure that age neither made the scroll fade or crumble. Glyphs covered every inch of the scroll, except for fifteen lines at the bottom right corner, where each signature was to be added to make the contract binding. "The scroll is binding, to Soul Reapers and to Keyblade wielders. The second you sign it binds you, the curse will be lifted and the new conditions be implemented, without fail." The Soul Reapers nodded their heads and stepped forward, Yamamoto at their head. Each one drew out a pen and Nyx smirked, knowing the pens would neither write on the scroll nor remain in the hand of the one who uses it. But Yamamoto laid the tip of his pen on the scroll and it slipped through his fingers, the nib broken and the cartridge shattered. "I have prepared a means of signing." A carved wooden box appeared on the table, the wood aged and glowing from within. Yamamoto opened the box and eyed the contents, disbelief plain on his face.

Nyx sighed and stepped forward, the box turning to meet her. She beheld the content and allowed a small smile. She reached out both hands and withdrew a wand of elder wood, the tip sharpened at one point with runes carved in black along its length. With her other hand she drew out the knife that accompanied the wand, the edge smooth as silk with jewels of the best quality studded into the hilt. But the jewels couldn't conceal what the hilt was made of, couldn't begin to disguise the use of the knife. For the hilt was a gnarled length of flowing vines, the plant living still, the blade littered with holes where vines crept through toward the sharp edge, the pommel a red rose with black staining the edge. "Yes, a means to bind yourself to a contract."

Nyx held the wand of elder in her left hand and held the blade in her right, the edge hovering over her wrist, the vines stroking her skin in obvious delight. But she didn't allow the blade to kiss her skin, didn't allow her blood to flow until the time was ripe. "Sign, Soul Reapers." Her voice was cold, unintentionally so, but kind. The Soul Reapers backed away nonetheless, not keen to touch a living dagger that would relish feeding on their blood. But at last one stepped forward, another following close behind. Byakuya held the blade against his skin and looked at her, confusion in his eyes. "What must I do?" Nyx smiled kindly and explained. "Let the blade taste your blood and dip the wand of elder in the flow, sign the scroll with the elder wand and place the blade and elder back in the box. Simple as that, enough blood to sign but not enough to harm you." Byakuya nodded his head and approached the table, placed his left forearm on the table and carefully drew the blade over his forearm, rubies clinging to the blade as he drew it away. He dipped the sharpened end of the elder wand in his blood and signed his name in careful strokes, Soifon signing a second later.

One by one all the captains signed, until only Shunsui and Yamamoto were left, both of whom looked uncomfortable to draw their own blood. But Yamamoto quickly signed when Nyx fixed him in her bottomless stare, his blood spattering the scroll as he slashed his palm. Shunsui cut his forearm and signed as well, holding his overcoat and sleeves away from the wound as he carefully bound it in a handkerchief. Then it was Nyx. Everyone fixed her in a tense stare as she walked forward, not in the least concerned about binding herself to a race she herself had never wanted to exist. She held the living blade against her arm and slashed down, severing muscle and flesh with frightening ease. She neither cared for injury or loss of blood so she let herself bleed, her blood flowing through her fingers to drip into the growing pool beneath her. She dipped her elder wand into the crimson stream and signed the contract, feeling the slight oath bind her. She stepped away and the wound marring her arm faded away, leaving her arm pale and perfect. She watched as Sora take the blade in one hand and the wand in another, slicing his wrist and signing in the last spot on the contract, ensuring eternal peace between Soul Reapers and keyblade wielders.

Sora felt his flesh heal and he wiped excess blood from his hand before stowing the dagger and elder wand back into the carved box, Nyx clapping her hands a second later with the table, scroll and box vanishing. "It is done. Eternal peace, something not even the most corrupt keyblade wielder can disrupt." A general sound of agreement came from the Soul Reapers and Yamamoto stepped forward, his staff echoing strangely in the silence Nyx maintained. "Peace, something we find scarce these days. We are in your debt Master Sora and Nyx. You have our gratitude. Accept these gifts..." Sora heard the rustle as Yamamoto searched his pockets for something. Finding it he tossed it toward Nyx and she caught it with nary a sound to betray her presence. "You are most gracious. Thank you." But Nyx just turned and, with a tug on his sleeve, had Sora follow her away from the Soul Reapers and down Sōkyoku Hill.

Nyx stopped when she reached the room where Sora and Kairi slept. She took Sora's hand and laid the small black box Yamamoto had given them on his palm, closing his fingers around it. "A gift. Bare it well, both you and Kairi. She is as much a part of this oath as we are, we finalised the oath but she arranged it." He tightened his grip on the box and nodded. "Alright. Thank you Nyx, for helping me again." But instead of responding she just stroked his cheek and started walking, her steps quite but strangely echoing. "Call on me again if you require help. I am willing and more than able to help, remember that my son." When he responded in the affirmative Nyx gathered her Light around her and faded away, leaving Sora to walk into his room and to wake his young love to give her a gift she hadn't asked for.

Sora sat down on the bed and touched Kairi's shoulder, rousing the girl with that simple touch. And as she sat up in the bed he set the small box on her knee and waited. He heard the clasp of the box open followed by the gasp of wonder Kairi gave when she saw the contents. "Where'd you get this?" Sora wanted to answer but he did nothing, more willing to have Kairi be impressed with the gift that to be impressed with him. He heard the clinking of metal sliding over metal and he heard a clasp slide into place. "What is it?" She touched his hand and led his fingers to her neck, where hung a heart with a dent in the centre. And the more he ran his fingers over the dent the more he realised it was a crown, the same crown that hung on his sternum even now. "What colour is it?" She took his hand away and he heard her touch the heart herself. "The heart's pink, like a heart released from a Heartless and the crown and chain is silver. Wanna have yours?" He nodded and he felt Kairi take his left hand, and slide something onto his middle finger, something heavy and warm as dawn's light. "A ring?" He clenched his hand into a fist and he felt the band dig into his flesh, along with the face of the ring into his ring and index finger. "Yes, black with seven silver stars. It is beautiful, old-fashioned and rough, but beautiful."

As Sora lay beside Kairi he twisted his new ring around his finger. He stopped when he felt something snag on his finger, barely a fault in the band but oddly noticeable. As he slid it off his finger and touch the inner band with his fingers he realised the fault ran the entire inner length, but it wasn't random, it felt carved. As he ran his fingers over the carved fault he realised they were runes, runes carved into the band. He handed the ring to Kairi and she took it. "What does it say? The band, it's carved. What does it say?" He waited as she murmured under her breath. She handed it to him again and he slid it back into place. "It says 'Binding Oath'." He nodded. 'Of course it does. The old man isn't someone who'd let me forget.' But he just shrugged, his hand clenched into a fist so the metal band dug into his skin, but he revelled in the discomfort, using it to take his mind away from thought he'd rather not have. He reached up with his hand and grasped the crown that hung from his own neck, the polished surface having almost no fault, no scratches and no cracks or chips. It was one of the few things he owned that a Heartless had never touched, so the surface was only marred by the few dents he'd made by accident. He let it go and it fell back against his skin, warm from his hands but still cold against his flesh. "We should leave this world soon. I want my sight and Ivy wants to meet Itachi." Kairi had lain her head against his shoulder as he spoke, so when she nodded subtly he felt it. "Yes we must. Today if we can."

Kairi looked at the necklace Sora had given her and touched the crown, the silver seeming to glow in the darkness of the room. The pink heart reflected the few rays of light that shone through the shaded windows, rainbows shining around the heart in pretty swirls, like diamonds would. 'But that's ridiculous. If this is diamond then it's worth a fortune, not even John could buy something that expensive.' As she shoved this ridiculous though away she stood up, her bare feet cold on the stone floor as she walked to the closet that contained everything she'd brought with her as well as the clothes Ukitake had given her as a gift. She put her shoes on and walked to the bed, noticing for the first time the blood that stained Sora's sleeve. But she said nothing, just took his hand and led him toward where she knew Ivy would be, drifting around the square that led toward Sōkyoku Hill. And there they found her with Ichigo, surprisingly, just standing around talking.

Ivy closed her mouth as she saw Kairi walking toward them leading a smiling Sora. 'Nice necklace. It suits her. Sora really is gracious.' But at the sense of urgency and excitement that streamed from the couple she frowned slightly and saw that both Sora and Kairi had all their belongings, which betrayed the intention of just going for a walk. "You wish to leave?" Her voice thrummed with dormant power, the air shimmering with her Fey will. Kairi shivered but Sora merely smiled, as if the power both strengthened him and frightened him. "Yes, the time has come to leave this place. What time will you be ready?" At the obvious joy and excitement in his voice Ivy herself smiled, but her smile was both thin and hesitant, for she had found a friend in Ichigo. But she just held her hand to the side and the sack she'd brought with her appeared, with all her belongings and trinkets inside. "Now if you want."

Kairi eyed Ivy as she strapped her sack to her back. "We should go greet the captains." Sora stirred beside her and she raised her eyebrow in confusion. "I kinda already did Kairi. Sorry." Kairi frowned and looked toward Sōkyoku Hill, the one place she knew she would see one captain. But the airy cliff was bleak and empty, no one gracing the bare stone. "They think we're already gone, don't they?" At his nod her shoulders slumped, her excitement replaced by disappointment. But a feeling of relief bloomed within her when someone laid their hand on her shoulder, looking up she saw it was Ivy, an angelic smile adorning her beautiful face. "Peace comes from within. But comfort comes from without." Kairi felt her face relax, tension she hadn't known she'd had draining away. "Okay."

Ivy withdrew her hand from Kairi's shoulder and faced Ichigo. "Well it's been great. I'll uhh, see you..." But he just ruffled her hair like she was a child, a child who could break him in two without him feeling a thing but a child nonetheless. But for once her body did nothing, just let itself be touched by someone other than Yaela. "Thanks Ichigo." He just lost his frown before his eyes grew shadowed. "Yeah, see ya Ivy." And he walked away, not even turning as he walked around the corner. As a dull ache echoed deep inside her Ivy turned away, already raising her hand to summon a Corridor of Light.

"Hey!" Ivy lowered her arm as she saw Ichigo walk back into view, Renji and Rukia in tow. And as the Corridor faded away the trio joined them. "You didn't think you could leave without saying goodbye, did you?" And as Renji scowled at her and Rukia's eyes grew bright Ivy felt the tell-tale warmth of friendship build inside her...

**Review! Please?**


	17. The shinobi of the Leaf

**Next chapter: The shinobi of the Leaf. **

**A favourite manga...a favourite game, what a fantastic combination. If I don't screw it up that is.**

Kairi walked out of the Corridor and stumbled, her foot slipping in mud that came up to her ankles. But an arm grabbed her and she regained her balance, lifting her head to thank Sora when she saw that it wasn't Sora, it was a girl. A girl with pink hair and light green eyes with a surprised expression on her face. "Do I know you?" When Kairi just shook her head the other girl let go of her arm and stepped away, leaning against the rough stone in the alley. It was then that Kairi cast her eyes outward, seeing many similar alleys scattered around her in a seemingly random pattern. In between and inside the alleys many people were gathered, forehead protectors strapped to some part of their body where it was visible. All of them, and Kairi knew this with a single glance, could easily fight her and win. Not one of them looked untrained and defenceless. "Sheesh, did I step into a warzone?" She looked around again and realised neither of her companions were present, she was alone. Except for the green-eyed, pink haired girl who looked at her with kind eyes. "Can I help you...?" Kairi heard the question and she introduced herself, leaving out the part where she was a Princess of Heart and a Keyblader. "And you are?" The girl inclined her head. "Sakura Haruno, pleased to meet you Kairi."

Kairi sat down on the stool Sakura had pointed at and looked up at Sakura, curious to see what a ninja's behaviour was. But the girl went about like Kairi would, her sandals making no sound on the smooth stone beneath them. By the time Sakura sat down opposite Kairi she was fidgeting under Kairi's open stare, looking away in an embarrassed way. "Is something wrong Kairi?" Kairi blinked and blushed, apologising for staring as she did. "Don't worry about it. So, what brings you here?" Kairi stared blankly at Sakura before realising the girl was talking about what Kairi's was doing in her town. "Honestly, I don't know. Ivy and Sora must have ended up somewhere else after the Corridor shattered. I wonder where they are anyway?" As if to answer her question a scream rent the air, followed by the sound of someone screaming in apology. With a start Kairi realised it was Ivy, desperation making her voice almost unrecognisable to Kairi. She swore, something Sora would scold her for if he found out and started for the entrance to the door, but found her way blocked by Sakura. "How did you..." Kairi looked behind her toward the chair Sakura had occupied a second ago and back toward the entrance, shocked at the speed the pink-haired girl had moved.

Kairi stepped forward to side-step Sakura but the girl caught her by the wrist with a strength that betrayed her slight form. "Wait. Why are you trying to get away?" Kairi tried to free her arm but Sakura just moved with her. "I need to go help Ivy. Please!" Sakura's face softened for a second before she let Kairi go, stepping aside so she could pass. "Thank you." And she started running, running with speed she didn't know she had. But Sakura ran beside her, looking at her in amusement.

Kairi slowed to a stop as she reached the circle of shinobi who barred her way. But she merely pushed her way through, using her elbows and shoulders to part the many bodies that blocked her way. With a last shove she broke through, seeing Ivy in front of her with Sora on the ground behind her, her arms held in front of her with her keyblade drawn, a look of panic on her face. And opposite Ivy stood four shinobi, all four having the headband everyone else wore. But they were younger than the rest, still in their teens. One had black hair that reached his waist with silvery eyes, no pupil visible. The second had brown hair and brown eyes and resembled the boy Ivy had describes as Sai. The third was a boy who had red marks on his cheeks with a large dog behind him, just the tip of an elongated incisor visible. The fourth was a girl, a girl with blond hair tied back in a ponytail that reached her narrow hips with hair hanging over the right side of her face. From what Kairi could see of her she had large, blue eyes and a pretty face. All four were attractive, Kairi could see that, but they could have been clowns or skeletal wraiths for all she cared, they were shooting Ivy and Sora dangerous glares and kept moving from side to side in an attempt to catch Ivy unguarded. But Ivy had more than enough experience to know when she was being flanked, she kept moving her stare from one shinobi to the other, panic visible on her face but a dangerous edge as well, an edge that showed that she had killed hundreds if not thousands before and cared nothing for those she had slain. But tears shone in her eyes and her movements were hesitant at best, not seeking to kill the shinobi and have the others attack but not willing to give herself up to people Uriel had warned her about for being ruthless in battle and cruel in torture. Kairi knew that Ivy would rather die than be captured, for she would die before she was captured as well.

Kairi ran forward and skid to a stop in front of Ivy, her coat fluttering behind her with her eyes focused on the four shinobi in front of her. They seemed genuinely surprised that she had ran to Ivy, even shocked when she turned her back to the panicked girl. "Ivy, get back. I'll take care of this. Heal Sora." Ivy moved back and started whispering, but Kairi didn't look back, she kept her eyes focused on the situation at hand. She saw Sakura try to get her attention to the side but she ignored her, summing it up to a shinobi helping a fellow shinobi.

Kairi took a step back as the first boy, the one with the white eyes, stepped forward, a kunai in hand. She raised her right hand and she saw him pause, tilting his head to the side as she reached for the magic. "Stay back." Her voice was threatening, terrifying, but it shook slightly, betraying her fear. So the boy merely glared at her and took another step forward. A wall of fire blocked his path, Kairi's hands held in front of her as she maintained the fire. "Stay back!" The shinobi stopped, surprised at the display of power as well as the new tone that gave Kairi's voice a new, dangerous edge. When the third boy took a step toward her Kairi took her one hand away so that the fire dimmed slightly but burned still, and pointed a finger toward him. "Stay back." But unlike the first shinobi this ninja wasn't mute, he laughed. "Or what? You gonna burn me alive? I doubt it, you don't seem stupid enough to do that. No...you just want to keep us back while your friend heals her boyfriend."

Kairi's eye twitched at the boy's reference to Ivy being Sora's boyfriend. And something from that single twitch did something none of her threats could: the boy shrank back...Just in time too. A bolt of blue lightning struck the spot he'd occupied a second before, enough power behind it to kill hundreds of Heartless. And that single action made the dam burst, the shinobi that had remained motionless in a circle around the small fight stepped forward. 'I can't stop them all.' Kairi looked back toward Ivy and saw the older girl motion toward her with her chin, both her hands pressed to Sora's chest. Kairi jumped back as the shinobi rushed her, Ivy standing up as she did.

Ivy stood up and pulled Sora up with her, his wounds healed enough so he wouldn't bleed to death as they waited. As Kairi stepped beside her she closed her eyes briefly, the Darkness behind her lids dancing. 'Can I still? Am I strong enough?' But she expelled all her doubts as she opened her eyes, scars spreading over her eyes as she did. And as something broke inside her power spewed into the world, her protector forming in time to stop a kunai from imbedding itself in her chest. And as her protector roared her heart ached in strain, her will weakening. 'My hate fuelled him, just as my rage supported him. Now I have neither...I'll just have to hold on until I can think of a plan.' A plan she realised a second later she may not need, because the shinobi around them backed away, true terror showing in most of their faces. And as one they whispered. "Susanoo. Uchiha. Sharingan."

Kairi looked around her, the shinobi backing away from them, giving them a wide berth. "What are they doing? Ivy?" She turned when Ivy said nothing, but what she saw chilled her to her very soul. Blood splattered Ivy's cheeks, her eyes so stained with blood only her pupils remained visible, her face pale and her eyes dull. As Kairi watched Ivy grasped at her mouth and bent forward, coughing violently. When she moved her hand away Kairi saw the blood, blood staining her hand and blood running from her mouth to drip onto her shirt. "Enough Ivy." She touched Ivy's shoulder but the older girl did nothing, the light fading from her eyes as she slowly bled. "I said enough!" Kairi shook Ivy but Ivy did nothing, merely looking forward. "Ivy!" Kairi did the only thing she could. She drew back her hand and brought it forward, slapping Ivy as hard as she could.

That did it, Ivy gasped and keeled over forward, her protector fading away with a scream of agony. As Ivy collapsed she dropped Sora, who fell onto his back into the slick mud. But Kairi paid him no heed, Ivy was gasping for breath and coughing all the while, blood spewing from her eyes and mouth in an infinite wave. She pulled Ivy into her arms and felt her clothes become drenched in blood, staining her skin the same colour as her hair. With a shout she looked around, the shinobi standing around them with their heads bowed. "Will no one help us? She was right, you are heartless bastards who don't care about anyone but yourselves." With a sound of disgust Kairi held her right hand up into the sky, the sun shining down on her from above. "Angelfire!" With a sound akin to a flame shooting over a river of lava Angelfire appeared in Kairi's hands, the jewel glowing with blue Light as her form drank in the fire of the divine. "Cure!" Green light descended from above, raining down in a torrent of fluid that left Kairi feeling revitalised and dry. But she gave her body no heed, she looked down as Ivy bled to death. She kept bleeding and Kairi screamed out every spell of healing she knew, until she was making them up as she sobbed. But a hand on her shoulder made her look up, Sakura smiling at her from above with a blond woman beside her. "Kairi, this is Lady Tsunade, Fifth Hokage and the best healer the Leaf has. She will help your friends."

Kairi looked up at Tsunade and the older woman smiled, her face unmarked by time but showing wisdom reserved for old men and ancient wise women. "I shall do the best I can." Kairi moved away slightly and Sakura descended, picking Sora up as if he weighed no more than an infant, while Tsunade carried Ivy in her arms as if she was an infant, held carefully against her voluptuous chest, murmuring words of comfort in her ear. Tsunade started walking through the village, shinobi of all ages bowing their heads as she passed. Sakura was right behind her, Kairi shadowing them both. The two shinobi who barred her way woke up in a ditch later, only remembering a fist coming toward them and a girl screaming at them both.

Kairi held Sora's hand in her own, her hands bloodstained and her shoes leaving dirty tracks behind her as she sat down next to the bed. Ivy was in a bed beside Sora, a cloth placed over her eyes and various marks etched into her skin. "To help her body absorb the chakra I injected her with. It will accelerate her healing while at the same time giving her body a chance to rest and recuperate." Tsunade had bid Kairi to sleep in the room beside Sora and Ivy's but she had refused, saying she was too stressed and worried to sleep. And she was, but her eyelids kept slipping lower and lower until her lashes brushed her cheeks.

When Kairi next woke she felt the brush of a blanket on her shoulders and a chill she associated with early morning cooling her exposed skin. She sat up straight and pulled the blanket closer, her hand still clutching Sora's. A throat being cleared made her look up, look up into green eyes. "You awake?" When she nodded Sakura walked into the room and crossed her arms. "Good, Lady Tsunade wants to see you." Kairi stood up and kissed Sora on the brow, the bandages removed from his eyes with his hair covering his face slightly. She saw bandages wrapped around his chest and she drew the blanket covering him upward, covering the bandages in virgin wool. She followed Sakura through the village, the village quiet except for the occasional watchmen speaking in low, hesitant tones. "Where am I?" Sakura looked over her shoulder and slowed, walking beside Kairi. "The Leaf. Our shinobi village. In Konoha. The land of fire. Is that enough information?" Kairi nodded, knowing that she was in fact on the correct world. "What did the shinobi mean when Ivy protected us? Who's Susanoo?" Sakura got a guarded look but it soon vanished, Kairi's curiosity probably convincing her that Kairi had no motive. "What. Not whom. Susanoo is a jutsu of immense power. Only the Uchiha clan can begin to grasp its power, since only they can use it. To use Susanoo you need the Sharingan, two eyes with Sharingan in fact, with the Mangekyō unlocked and both Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi unlocked. Susanoo requires both eyes while Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi require one each. As far as I know all three Mangekyō techniques damage the body and eyes of the user, but none damage it like Susanoo. As you could see with your friend. And from the way she was bleeding Tsunade knows that she's at the brink of blindness, she may even be blind. We won't know until she wakes up."

Kairi stopped when she learned about the blindness, the weakness. 'It fits. Ivy goes blind each time she uses her fire and she grows weaker bodily and mentally each time she uses her protector.' But one thing she didn't understand. "You need the Sharingan to use Susanoo?" Sakura nodded. "But Ivy doesn't have the Sharingan. She's not even from here. She had to ask some boy about the Sharingan. And even then she said she knew little. How about the Uchiha? Are they a group or some family or what?" Sakura eyed her wearily before she shook her head. "That I can't tell you. You have to ask Lady Tsunade if you want to know. Come." And she started walking again. Before long they reached their destination, a room overlooking the entire village with the mountain with the carved faces completely visible, even in the pre-dawn light.

Sakura knocked on the door and a muffled response was heard. "Lady, I brought the girl." Another response and the door opened. Kairi walked in after Sakura and surveyed her surroundings, the wooden desk piled high with sealed scrolls and paperwork. A man with a tower of white hair with the lower half of his face covered by a mask and his left eye hidden behind his skew forehead protector leaned against the wall. And in front of the large window, her back turned, her hands planted on the windowsills, stood the Fifth Hokage. "Lady, she is here." Sakura inclined her head and waited. "Sakura...you may go. Thank you." The door closed with a click as Sakura closed it behind her, leaving Kairi alone with two strangers who would like nothing more than to torture her. Or so she though. Tsunade turned away from the window and fixed Kairi in a stare, as if she wanted to split her skull and see what she was thinking. With a frown her gaze softened. "How are you?" Kairi frowned at Tsunade and felt the unnamed man stare at her. "What do you mean?" Tsunade looked at her strangely and pointed down, toward Kairi's left arm. Kairi herself looked down, already knowing what she'd find. Her Shadow Hand was glistering, the bandages burned and torn, the silver skin glowing while her palm shone with Primal Light. Kairi knew why her Shadow Hand had appeared, it felt her weakness and thus tried to strengthen her with its own unyielding burning strength. Even her coat was torn and shredded, on account of the battle she had been in with the Soul Reapers and joined Hollow and Heartless army. "It's my curse to bear. Don't worry about it." With a sheer force of will Kairi raised her left arm and brushed her fingers over the seal, the bandages and coat fading away to reveal all that kept her awake at night, the power that both blessed and damned her to oblivion. For the Shadow Hand revealed all, truths and deceit, hope and fear, while at the same time revealing the emotions that raged inside her. She held nothing back, her palm glowing blue and her silver skin reflecting the pre-dawn light. And as the two strangers stared at her she willed her power away, her Shadow Hand starting to re-seal itself. As the silver skin moved down her arm it chilled her, until her hand contained not even a single speck of silver.

As Kairi's Shadow Hand disappeared Tsunade and the unnamed man looked at her, looked at her in a new light. As if she'd gone from a girl who they could dispose of to a girl who was a threat. With a simple look toward the unnamed man Tsunade sat down behind her desk, her eyes on Kairi all the while. "Kakashi, what do you think? Is she trustworthy?" The man, Kakashi, eyed Kairi with his one eye, neither loathing nor anger visible. "I think...that only time will tell. But for the time being, let her have the run of the place. Not alone of course, have someone accompany her, but let her do what she pleases." Tsunade nodded her head and flicked her fingers toward the window behind her, toward the village. "Kairi, do you know what being the Hokage entails?" Kairi shook her head and Tsunade smiled a grim smile. "I am both a teacher and a healer, but when the time comes to fight I lead the shinobi of the Leaf into battle. And if the situation requires it I shall willingly give my life to save them. I am the most powerful ninja in this village, that is what the title Hokage means, it means that I will succeed where everyone has failed. I know that there are shinobi who could defeat me in battle, but until they defeat me in battle I am the strongest, wisest and most willing ninja in the Leaf, even though I ask for advice and help. Kakashi could beat me in single combat, I know this but I also know he wouldn't attempt it." At her comment Kakashi snorted, his eye closing as he chuckled. "True but I would die if you touch me. I may have the Sharingan but I don't have your strength or jutsu, and I obviously don't have your skills or endurance."

While Tsunade and Kakashi enjoyed their teasing Kairi looked out the window, her heart with her love, wondering how such a bright day had become so cold and cruel. 'Ivy blind, Sora wounded, captured and imprisoned against my will.' But she remained positive, for she knew if there was one person who knew where Uchiha Itachi was it was Tsunade. And with a start she focused on the conversation again. "What brings you here Kairi?" Kairi blinked, wondering if fate could truly be so kind. She smiled slightly and emptied her heart, making sure that her voice was as blank as possible. "Uchiha..." Both Tsunade and Kakashi stared at her, Tsunade with wide eyes and Kakashi with a lazy stare. "Itachi." At the name Tsunade blanched, and even Kakashi seemed surprised. "Itachi? But he's dead." Kairi smiled all the wider, seeing through the deceit in Tsunade's eyes. "True...but that doesn't mean he's not walking around." Tsunade became even paler just as the sun peeked over the horizon, brightening the room in liquid gold. "You know. You know about Impure World Resurrection." Kairi shook her head. "No, all I know is that he's dead but breathing and that he might help Sora."

As Tsunade got some of her colour back Kairi explained why they needed Itachi. "So Danny ripped Sora's eyes out, we need to get new eyes and Ivy found out a Sharingan can be transplanted...It's a slim chance that Itachi won't kill us and even slimmer that he'll help us, but he's the best chance we've got." Tsunade had nodded ever so often through the story, until she froze when Kairi spoke about transplanting a Sharingan. "That may be true, as Kakashi is an example, but there aren't any Uchiha eyes left, the Uchiha clan was wiped out years ago, a cruel task the previous Hokage had tried to stop, by Itachi. So now there are only four Uchiha left, Itachi, Sasuke, Madara and an imposter who calls himself Madara. From those four two are alive and neither will help you, they'll kill you for sport. And while a few non-Uchiha members have the Sharingan none will give it to you, it is far too powerful a weapon and far too difficult to use properly. And even if we do find a whole barrel of eyes the chances of any being adaptable to Sora is incredibly slim, slimmer than chancing on a lone eye hidden somewhere." Kairi had known having Itachi helping them was slight, but now that a Sharingan might not even be usable once Sora had it she was desperate at best. But at a motion from Kakashi she looked at him, looked directly into a red eye that seemed to draw her in...deeper...deeper...until she strengthened her will and forced her own mind toward Kakashi, weakening the hold he had on her enough to break free entirely. When she was free she sagged inward, her body burning with exhaustion while her mind ached with headache. As she swallowed down her nausea she glared at Kakashi, knowing that if he wanted to do it again he would succeed in trapping her in his gaze.

Kairi looked away from Kakashi, her breathing ragged and laboured. "Stop that." Kakashi slid his headband over his left eye again, his right twinkling with humour. "Oh you are different. Few can resist the Sharingan without knowing they were under the affect of genjutsu. Especially someone who only learned about the Sharingan mere days ago." Kairi shrugged, her limbs still trembling. "I have experience. I have faced more than one foe who could change my perception, but few could weaken me as you just did. Why did you do that anyway?" Kakashi's right eye grew half-lidded as he stared toward the horizon, seeing what has passed. "Itachi will test you, he will test you in strength and logic. And if my genjutsu weakened you like this his will kill you, for my gaze is weak compared to one who is a true successor of the Sharingan, and he is one of the strongest. And that's without him using Tsukuyomi, that jutsu is dangerous, even when used by a novice. But Itachi is a true successor, powerful and intelligent. He knows how to break you without you knowing it, he can mould you to his influence without you even realising what's happening. He will turn you against your friends and make them seem like your worst enemy. And the only way you can defend yourself against him is to be broken, again and again, by someone who can imitate what he does. That would be me, which is why Lady Tsunade called for me."

Kairi looked at Kakashi in confusion before she clamped her mouth shut with a snap, suspicion returning. As her eyes fixed on Tsunade the older woman looked smug. "I do question those you have talked to Kairi. And Sakura was more than willing to tell me that the girl, Ivy, had been asking about the Sharingan after I told her it would protect you. I know what you need, and I know what you would give to get Sora his eyes back. I know what you feel when you look at him and I know how to make it worse. What I don't know is why you came to us, why you would possibly come to a place that would more than likely get you killed?" Kairi herself had asked herself this question. Why had Ivy almost killed them and blinded herself on a foolish venture? Why had she done what she did? She could easily have stopped any confrontation between herself and the shinobi with nary a glance and yet she was in a hospital bed with Sora beside her. "We need a healer. Sora and I can heal most wounds, even regenerate wounds that would kill us if we have too. But we need someone who can do more than just mend our bones or meld our flesh. We need someone to implant the eyes and assemble the nerves without infection or permanent damage. We need someone who specialises in healing, not like us. We care little for healing, we rely on our strength and our reflexes to save us from lingering scars." Kairi fell silent, her words echoing in the sun filled room.

Sakura walked into her two patients room, only to have a blade of cold steel press to her neck. "Where is she?" Sakura froze, her eyes fixed on the window in front of her, the smooth glass reflecting the room like a mirror. She saw herself, a white blade pressed to her neck with a pale form behind her, marks painted onto the pale wraith's skin. When she cast her eyes toward the two beds she saw that it was the woman, Ivy, who was holding the blade. But Sakura wasn't afraid of the blade, she was more afraid Ivy would exhaust herself from the effort. "You are not well. Unhand me and I will help you." She tried to turn around but a grip of iron stopped her, the fingers that clamped down on her shoulder stronger even than her, and she was strong indeed. "I'm well enough. Where is Kairi?" Ivy's voice was firm and strong but Sakura could see the shadows beneath her eyes, the weakness that made her tremble. "No you're not. You could just as well put this thing down before you kill yourself. I will take you to Kairi later." And as Ivy's grip weakened Sakura turned around and grabbed the weapon, almost dropping it when she felt its light weight. But before she could rip it away it vanished in a cloud of sparks as Ivy's eyes fluttered as she fell. Sakura caught her, gently, and walked her over to the bed, laid her down and laid her hands against her. And as chakra flowed into Ivy to heal, mend and strengthen Sakura examined Ivy, the brutal shadows which seemed branded into the girl's skin. By context she had expected something worse, much worse. 'At least she's not blind. That's something to be thankful for.' When Ivy's skin brightened slightly Sakura released her, turning to her other patient. 'He is an anomaly.'

And so he was, his skin had bent the needle Tsunade had jammed into his arm but Akamaru's teeth had easily ripped through skin, muscle and bone when Sora had landed on him. His body was marred by scars of past wounds that would kill most anyone, shinobi or otherwise, and yet the bite marks had refused to heal, even under Tsunade's prompting. She has summed it up as extreme fatigue, his body not having the energy needed to heal even the slightest wound. "The chakra I gave him should clear that right up. But it might take a day or two." Sakura pulled the thin blanket from his chest and unwound the bandages, almost expecting to see the wounds replaced by shiny scars. Instead disappointment lodged itself in her throat, the bite marks had crusted over but blood still flowed from the holes Akamaru's canines had made. 'At least he's healing.' Ivy groaned behind her and she turned, almost certain the blond girl would point her blade toward her again. "Need some help?" The voice came from the doorway, a voice Sakura instantly recognised and despised. "Ino."

Sakura turned around, annoyance stinging her throat but understanding as well. Ino had been the one to get Sora away from Akamaru, been the one to convince Kiba and Neji not to attack. She had been the one who had pleaded with Tsunade to let her care for Sora in her free time. "Yeah, take care of him, will you?" Ino nodded and walked forward, her face for once concerned for someone beside herself. "He's not healing." It wasn't a question but Sakura nodded anyway, her back toward Ino as she helped Ivy take a forced drink of water. "I was kind of expecting him to run around by now. Seeing as how the girl handled her chakra like that. I've never seen someone use fire and lightning at the same time before. Scared me too. Cause that wasn't a weak jutsu, she didn't even use seals. And how she used her chakra to heal herself, now that was impressive. But it was useless, it didn't help them much." Just to have Ino shut up Sakura spun around, a frown splitting her face as she prepared to scold Ino. But her insult died in her throat, seeing how she was dabbing at Sora's wounds with a rag already stained red. Slowly and gently, like he was a newborn child. "She saved him. Gave him enough energy to hold out until Lady Tsunade could heal him. And that wasn't jutsu, it was magic. It's what they do." Her voice was gentle, soft and kind, something she rarely was with Ino. "And her name is Kairi. And he's Sora. I think their engaged or something. They both have the same crown on their necklace. And his ring has an inscription. Check it if you want."

Ino looked down at the boy, Sora, and took his hand into her own, his calloused palm scraping over her soft one. She took the ring from his finger and turned it in her hand, watching the sun shine on the black and silver ring. Her eyes fixed on the inscription that ran around the entire inner band and she read it again, slowly. "_Binding Oath._ Sounds serious." When a hand gripped her wrist she dropped the ring, the metal sounding like a bell struck as it bounced on the floor. She looked at Sora, his hand clenched tightly around hers. "Kairi." He barely whispered the words but they were sure and clear, a promise renewed. "She's with Tsunade Sora. Don't worry, she's safe. Safe." She repeated the word, trying to convey comfort in this simple word. It didn't seem to work though, his grip tightened as he pushed himself up, his wounds opening again. She shot her hand out but she dared not touch him, the bite encircled his chest, leaving her no room to push him down. With what have been an incredible force of will he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, swaying where he was. Ino stood up to help him but he let her go and sank down onto his knees, his fingers scrambling over the floor like spiders. Ino reached down and took what he wanted, his ring, from where it lay and pressed it into his palm.

Sora visibly relaxed as his ring slid back into place, pushing up with his arm as he stood back up, his feet planted wide for balance. "Ivy...are you here?" A muffled response was heard and Sora turned in that direction, his face pale but set and determined. "Let's go." A crash sounded as Ivy stood up, throwing the contents from a metal slab Sakura held in one hand. "Aye, we need to find Itachi." Sora seemed to become stronger by the second but Ino wasn't convinced, she was certain he'd collapse sooner rather than later. "You can't. You're hurt." As if her words caused the injuries anew Sora flinched, his one hand held against a deep but narrow hole Akamaru's canine had made. "I know." With a sigh Sora sat down on the bed, his bare feet hanging above the tiled floor. "Where are my clothes? My shoes?" At that Ino didn't know how to answer, so Sakura rushed to his side and laid her hand against his left bicep, one of the few placed he wasn't wounded. "Torn and bloodied. Tsunade had them burned, but your boots and possessions are fine. Muddied but fine." Sora nodded and tried to stand up but Sakura refused to let go, and from personal experience Ino knew Sora was feeling an unyielding weight push him down. "No. You're still hurt and you may yet die." As if the concept of death didn't concern him Sora shrugged, even more blood seeping from his right shoulder as he did. "Where are my clothes? I'll wear them dirty." Sakura sighed, a sound Ino knew meant she had given up on the situation. "Their dirty but Lady Tsunade had some brought for you, both you and Ivy." At that Sora and Ivy, who was drinking from a pitcher beside her bed, grew still. "She did?" Sora sounded surprised, puzzled even. Sakura nodded, opening a cupboard built into the wall opposite his bed, pulled some robes from within and handed them to him. She threw similar robes onto Ivy's bed. "If you want to go see Kairi you need to dress. Most people don't see a barely dressed teenager with wounds severe enough to keep him in bed for weeks walk past as if nothing's wrong with him. Bathroom's behind you."

Sora stood in the bathroom, the door firmly secured, and stripped the pants he had on and started dressing like a shinobi. When he was certain he didn't look as out of place as he felt he walked back into the room, the shirt still open so as not to aggravate the wounds. Ivy walked past him and appeared barely a minute later, clearing her throat in discomfort all the while. "I feel like a freak." Sora couldn't agree more but he didn't want to insult either of the two girls who'd been nothing but kind to him. "Thank you by the way. For getting that hound of hell away from me. I would have had to kill him if you hadn't dragged me away. That was something I wouldn't have wanted to do, I love dogs. They usually love me too but landing on them isn't the best way to make friends." He heard the second girl, who he remembered was named Ino, chuckle. "Yeah, you should give him a snack, pet his head, take him for a walk and _then _land on him. Otherwise it might get nasty." He chuckled, she had the kind of personality he liked, cheery and warm with a wee bit of insanity thrown into the mix. But he didn't say anything, just put on some socks and stuffed his feet into his boots. He straightened up and drew in a sharp breath as fire bathed his chest with pain, sharp and fast. But he ignored it, pushing his body's needs to the back of his mind, putting Kairi's safety at the fore of his mind. "Ivy? Ready?" At her affirmative he asked Sakura to take him to Kairi, and even though she protested she led them, Ino following behind them, through the village of the Leaf.

As Ivy walked through the Leaf she couldn't help but appreciate the battle ready appearance of everything. Well, everything she could see through the blurred blindness that pervaded her sight. 'This is the worst it's ever been. But it will pass, my Daemon blood will make it so.' Ivy knew that if she was anything other than what she was she would have been long dead, her Fey blood strengthened her just as her Daemon blood protected and healed her. If it had been one or the other she would be dead, because if she was pure Fey she would be powerful yes, but the side-effects of her bloodline abilities would have destroyed her. If she had been pure Daemon it would be just as bad, if not worse, for her Daemon blood healed all damage her power wrought on her, but without her Fey blood she would be exponentially weak. But she said nothing, just staggered along. When she tripped or slipped Sakura always steadied her, as if she knew that Ivy would fall. Sora however was walking with a pace that would kill him soon, his legs pumping and blood dripping to the cold mud below. She reached out and gripped his arm, getting a muffled moan of pain in return, and pulled him to a halt. She leaned in and looked toward the two girls guiding them, sure that they would convey everything she said to the Hokage. So she lowered her voice and held her mouth close to Sora's ear. "She is fine. I made it so. If they try to touch her my fire will burn them." She felt him stiffen before he relaxed his muscles, looser than they've been since they got to this cold world. So she backed away and motioned for Sakura to walk on, Ino looking at her curiously all the while.

Ino strained to hear what Ivy whispered in Sora's ear but it was lost, only knowing that Sora relaxed and Ivy was smug. But she held her tongue, walking behind Sora as he bled. She knew he would be dead before they reached the Hokage's office, but he wasn't stumbling or panting as he should. His back was straight and his hands were clenched into fists as he followed Sakura. And that confused her. When they stopped to rest at a small coffee-shop at Sakura's insistence Ino watched him, almost certain that he'd pass out. But what she did see confused her even more; the wounds that marred his chest had closed, pink flesh peeking through the holes Akamaru's teeth had made. 'He's healing. Incredible.' And he was, even as she watched the scabs that covered the smaller, shallower wounds crumbled away, leaving smooth, unmarked skin. "How do you do that?" He just cocked his head to the side with a frown, his eyelids closed over his ruined eyes. "Do what? Heal myself? It's slower than usual but it works, I know that I might die if I force the healing process as I normally would. It's a part of me, I can't help it." At that Ino was speechless, even Sakura stared at him with wide eyes. But Ivy looked bored, her eyes distant as they slowly, oh so slowly, became unclouded and clear once more, her face no longer pale as death and no longer as drawn and gaunt as she was when she awoke. "And you? How can you be healing as fast as you are? Are you gonna say it's a part of you, like Sora did?" Ino knew her voice was cruel but she couldn't help herself, she couldn't help being jealous of a girl who was prettier than her.

As Ivy turned her bloodshot eyes toward her Ino felt a chill crawl up her spine, like her seeing how Naruto killed Pain with such power had sent a chill up her spine, a chill she associated with ignorance, ignorance of things she couldn't begin to understand. Ivy stared at her blankly before she smiled an angelic smile, one only ruined by the pain in her eyes and the paleness of her flesh. "No...it's just how I am. Sora had to train to heal like he does, I inherited this power. My blood burns just as his blood boils. My soul rages for release just as his screams for peace. We are what we are, our actions define us. And soon even Kairi will be like us, the blood she has shed and the death she has wrought will have her screaming herself awake at night just as Sora screams himself awake. If she doesn't go mad she'll grow cold, and if she doesn't grow cold she will accept her lot in life and find it necessary to take the lives of others to keep herself alive. Sora is at the turning point while I have long ago chosen my reason for killing. And the two of you will face the choice too, one day. Those like us face it much earlier than anyone else, most face it when their barely out of childhood. While you shinobi only find yourself deafened by the screams of those you have slain and blinded by the faces of those left behind much later in life. Most of you go mad or give up killing while others become pacifists." As Ivy fell silent Ino saw Sora wipe something from his cheek before he returned to rolling his empty cup between his palms. "Our lot in life. We kill to protect, just as you kill for this village. We have no choice just as you have no choice." He fell silent, Ino hearing the bitter hate that often plagued her late at night, but his was matured and deep, just as her own self-hate for what she had to do was shallow and still wild. Sakura chuckled without humour and Ino heard the same hate, the same hate that she knew plagued most Chūnin.

Sakura looked over her shoulder as she walked, her eyes always seeming to return to the blue-eyed, blond haired girl who she was beginning to fear even more. 'She is cold, calculated but at the same time she is happy and cares for Sora and Kairi. She is, and will probably become, one of the most dangerous people I know. Even Sasuke, who would kill me if he had the chance, would hesitate if he faced her in battle. Sasuke is cold and cruel but he is no fool, he would see that Ivy is more than willing to kill everyone who stands in her way to peace.' She kept walking and ignored the stare Ivy was directing toward her, focusing on the road ahead and the mountain that overlooked the village. In what felt like seconds she was once again in front of Tsunade's office, her hand once again raised to knock. But she hesitated, unsure as to why she had even brought Sora and Ivy so far. But her decision was taken from her, Ivy reached out her arm and knocked quietly on the door. "Yes?" Sakura stayed silent, even though she knew she should speak. "Lady, Ivy and Sora are here to see you." Sakura was again spared the decision when Ino called out, shooting Sakura a look that said she understood how she felt.

For what felt an eternity they waited before the door swung open, slowly, Kakashi standing with his hand on the doorknob. "Yes?" He shot all four of them a droll stare before he stepped back, motioning all four of them to enter. And as they shuffled in Ino couldn't help but notice the look of relief that passed over Sora's face when Kairi flung herself into his arms. And as she crushed the jealousy that clawed at her heart she examined the red-haired girl. 'Pale skin, blue eyes, red hair, pretty face. Absolutely normal.' But Ino knew she was deceiving herself. The strength that shone in Kairi's eyes set her apart from average girls. She also had the strangest influence when she spoke, the room went quite and the air grew still, as if the very air in the room and the earth beneath them wanted to hear her speak. 'I can see why Sora loves her. I can see why he wants his sight back, she may be average enough but her soul burns brightly, and that light is worth any sacrifice to see.' Ino knew she had struck the truth suddenly, that the only reason Sora wanted his sight back was so he could stare into Kairi's eyes and tell her he loved her. And for that she respected him.

Sakura stood beside Kakashi as Sora and Kairi sat beside each other, Ivy leaning opposite her against the shadowed wall. "This meeting must proceed. We have many people to meet and no time to spare. But I can see why you have brought us here. Or more specifically, why you brought Kairi here. Especially with one so skilled at gleaming information without the target being privy." Both Tsunade and Kakashi looked slightly alarmed, or Kakashi looked more amused than anything else. "Oh." Before he said anything more Tsunade stood up from her chair, walking around her desk as she walked over to Ivy. She stared at Ivy with hard eyes as she stood opposite her, the younger woman staring into her eyes with obvious amusement. "I can see why. Kairi is most vulnerable. You thought you could mould her to your will. Well you can't. And if you had tried you would have known what fire hot enough to melt the flesh from your bones felt like. I made sure that she is protected, I never trusted people who would willingly mutilate their own friends and family for power. Despicable, at least I killed for revenge and not simple power you can't even use. You are an exception, Bladerunner." Ivy spoke toward Kakashi, and for some reason he looked surprised at the nickname, but pleased as well.

Kairi looked on is silence as Ivy confronted Tsunade, her fingers tight around Sora's, eyeing the discussion with interest. When Ivy spoke to Kakashi however, she stepped away from Sora, her fingers still laced in his, and cleared her throat. Kakashi looked at her and Ivy as well, but Tsunade just sighed before ducking her head. "What power? What revenge? And what are you talking about Ivy? What did you do to me?" Ivy raised her hand so it was level with her eyes and pointed at Kairi with all the authority of fate itself. A burning pain that stung Kairi's right eye forced her to close her eyes, only to have them forced open a second later. What she saw made her gasp, both in surprise and fear. In front of her drifted a single jet of flame, the same as Ivy's, dripping blood before it moved toward Ivy, who took it in one hand and closed her left eye briefly, a single drop of blood dripping down her cheek as the fire died. She blinked and wiped the blood away, looking up with a tired smile. "I had to protect you. So I sealed a spark of my fire in your right eye before I passed out in bed. You were asleep already so you didn't feel anything, whereas I felt as if my eyes would turn to ash from the fire of pain that even now burns me. It would have worked once, a single controlled burst that would kill anyone who meant you harm. It would have damaged your vision, yes, but a necessary sacrifice to keep you alive. I also placed a block in your mind, to stop any attempt to gleam your memories. That has already been used, meaning Bladerunner has already tried to dig around in that pretty little head of yours." Ivy rubbed at her eyes before she yawned, tears forming at the corners of her large eyes, making her look like a little girl. "And as to what power, Kakashi can show you." With a flick of her wrist she had Kakashi's attention, his one visible eye half-lidded. "Show her Bladerunner, show her what Sora's eyes will look like after Itachi gives him his sight back."

Kairi watched with bated breath as Kakashi reached up with his right arm, closing his right eye as he revealed his left. A scar ran over his eyelid, like he'd been slashed with a blade, while his eye was red, the pupil a small dot with three tomoe encircling it. For some reason she was drawn into the pupil, feeling the black speck growing bigger and bigger until it shadowed her entire field of vision. Then he blinked and she sagged in Sora's arms, feeling her mind strain against the power he had over her. But he paid her no heed, he stared at her with his open eye, the other closed, the scar running down his cheek to disappearing under his mask. And every time Kairi looked at his eye he drew her in, and every time he blinked the easier Kairi could expel his hold, until when he stared at her, long and hard, she just smiled. And as she smiled Kakashi's eye closed in a cheery smile she could not see, feeling slight accomplishment bloom inside her. "I see." With nothing more to say Kairi leaned back in Sora's arms and sighed, her strength returning.

Sakura watched as Kairi repelled the genjutsu again and again, with her strength increasing and the energy swirling around in her body becoming stronger and stronger, until it was like a sweet breeze, slight but immensely powerful. She turned her eyes toward Sora, her eyes seeing what only a shinobi trained in the medical arts could. His energy was dense and warm, like a forest fire, wild and uncontrollable. 'His chakra is strange, two opposing forces meeting to form one consecutive whole. On one side his chakra is oppressive and foul, like Madara's but stronger, while on the other side it's embracing and bright, like Naruto's. But when they combine it's much stronger than either of them, the foulness removed by the brightness and the oppressive nature gentled by his embracive kindness.' Sakura mover her gaze from the kind light that shone within Sora to the shadow that loomed within Ivy. Her chakra was a blood red laced with shadows of silver, intoxicating in density but invigorating as well. 'Her chakra is foul but its foulness is fading, instead becoming brighter and stronger, but still airy and dense.' Ivy was an anomaly Sakura had never met before, powerful and skilled, wild and uncontrolled but her mind cold and calculated. 'I hope I never fight her. To stop her I'll have to destroy her.' These troubled thoughts were interrupted when a faint echo of chakra flowed through the room, from Sora and Kairi. She turned her eyes back toward them and sucked in a breath, amazed at what she saw.

Sora and Kairi glowed like a newborn sun, energy the colour of moonbeams drifted from them in waves, their bodies pulsing with more power than Sakura had ever seen. She wondered what could have caused such a change but found out a second later. Sora broke the kiss he and Kairi shared, a kiss so gentle it caused a faint ache in her own heart, a look of such love and adoration on his face she thought she had never seen a man so in love. Kairi's face glowed as well, love in her eyes and peace on her face, amplifying her beauty until she was indescribable, such perfection Sakura didn't have the words to explain it. When their lips brushed again the same moonlight erupted from their separate ice-blue and fiery-red energy, the two powers moulding together. 'How can that be done? It's like their energies merge, their flaws drowned in utter perfection.' She wanted to study them more but the two broke apart, their cheeks rosy as they blushed in unison from the weight of the stares upon them. And with their lack of contact their energy separated, leaving the world darker than it was.

Ino leaned against the wall, watching with half-lidded eyes as Tsunade interrogated Sora and Ivy, Tsunade's voice becoming louder and lower the more she learned until she nearly yelled her questions. When this happened Kakashi shot her a look with his right eye, his Sharingan once more covered by his forehead protector, and told her to calm down in that soothing voice of his. And she did, Kakashi's inherent control of his emotions rubbing off on Tsunade. She took a deep breath and smoothed her face of the frown that seemed to have carved its way into her brow. "Forgive me. It seems my emotions have bested me, but no more." She turned her now calm eyes toward Ivy and stared her straight in the eye. "You were blind when I healed you, and even now you are still bothered by your eyes, but you seem content to use them as you see fit, even now. Why is that?" Ivy leaned back against the wall she was leaning on and rubbed at her eyes, her face soft and calm. "Honestly I don't know. My blood heals me just as yours gives you great strength. Just as the Uchiha gain the Sharingan so I gained my power, just like my sister gained her eyes. We are neither a part of the shinobi nor are we a part of any group that classify us as human. If not for our hearts and our bodies we would have long presumed to be non-human, and even now we sometimes have difficulty finding our humanity." Before she could say any more coughs racked her form, leaving her gasping for breath afterward. "Ah, forgive me. My body betrays my will. My body is still half dead, while the other half...is not alive. I can neither say that I'm alive just as I cannot say that you will help us, it is not my right." As Ivy slid to the ground she gasped and clutched at her chest, another attack of coughs forcing her to bow her head. Ino heard a wet sound and blood splattered onto the floor, Ivy staring at her hand before she shrugged.

Ino stared at Ivy as she coughed herself to death, already moving forward to heal her. But before she could touch Ivy someone touched her shoulder, when she looked to see who it was she was surprised when it was Kairi. "No. It is not your burden to bear. You fend for your own, just as we fend for our own." As she spoke Sora had crouched beside Ivy, speaking to her in a muted tone. Ivy touched his wrist as he raised his hand to her face, almost as if he wanted to touch her cheek. Then he pulled upward and settled against the wall, pulling Ivy toward him so she sat in his lap, her head resting on his shoulder. He held out his left wrist and Ivy took it in both hands and pressed it to her mouth. She closed her eyes as she opened her mouth, her incisors sharp in the morning light. With a wet snick her teeth slid into Sora's wrist, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth as his blood flowed into her. But he drew his hand away a second later, just a few rubies clinging to Ivy's lip as he drew away. She ran her tongue over the drops of blood and raised her hand to her mouth, wiping the blood that had dripped to her chin with a delicate finger which she drew to her lips after she had gathered all the stray drops to her finger. She licked her finger and leaned back, her eyes still closed.

Ino watched as Sora stood back up, his wrist still oozing blood, and settle back into the chair Tsunade had directed him toward. As if he felt her stare he turned his face toward her, his face empty except for a look of compassion. "Nyx fed me her blood before. It's been awhile since then but her blood still flows through me, and now it flows through Ivy, strengthening her already strengthened Fey body." As he motioned with his chin toward Ivy Ino followed his motion, seeing Ivy relax as she lay against the wall, her incisors still visible. "What I did won't work with anyone else. For she is Daemon just as she is Fey. If she was pure Daemon my soul would have been lost and if she was pure Fey...well I don't know if we would even be having this discussion." Sora fell silent as Ivy rose up, showing no pain or fatigue, her face hidden behind her blond hair. "Yes...if I was pure Fey I would never require healing, for my body would never bruise or blister, my soul would never pain or mourn. Fey are immortal, just as Daemons are immortal, but two different types of immortality. Fey share the blood of heaven and hell, while Daemons share the old blood. Daemons live as long as they feed on souls, something I don't require. My soul is Fey, just as my body is Fey. My blood and my mind is Daemon, so while my Daemon powers feed from my Fey soul my Fey body would feed on my Daemon blood to become stronger." She shook her head and showed her face. Ino along with everyone save Sora and Kakashi gasped as they saw Ivy's face. It was unmarked and unmarred, her skin still pale but luminous, her eyes clear and bright as her hair shone with health. 'She's beautiful. Even prettier than when I first saw her.' Ino glanced to the side, surprised that Kairi had gasped along with her. But her observation died in her throat when she saw colour peek over Kakashi's face, the little skin that showed turning pink. But the flush vanished instantly, his eye once more becoming bored and calm.

Kairi stood up with a smile, pleased at how things have gone. 'Ivy healed, Sora healing, a guide in Sakura and companionship in the Leaf and its allies. We can even become shinobi if we wanted to, which I think I want to do, even if it is to learn how to move like they do. Sakura's fast, faster than Sora. And the way Ivy talked to Kakashi he's even faster.' She smiled brightly at Tsunade and Kakashi, both looking cheery in a serious sort of way. "Don't worry about us. We won't cause trouble, I'll just learn to become one of you while Ivy searches the fields and channels for word of Itachi. Not that I know what that means but now we have a plan. Thanks guys." With another bright smile she turned on her heel and walked after Sora and Sakura, who was leading them both toward the 'Academy'. Before they could take more than a couple steps however, Kakashi appeared in front of them. "Sora, Kairi, Tsunade and I have thought of something...don't use your weapons. No one must know that you come from outside the Land of Fire, not even your sensei. Understood?" When both Sora and Kairi nodded he closed his eye in amusement and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Before Sakura could lead them farther Kairi grabbed her arm. "Why?" Sakura just looked at her silently. "Because, we are cautious of shinobi from other villages. Just think how threatened the other shinobi would feel if they found out you carry mythic weapon and come from another world. Some of the elders might decide you can become a threat, or they might just kill you as a precaution. We don't like change, and you will soon see why that is." Without another word she broke Kairi's grip and led them away from the Hokage's bright room.

**Review! Please?**


	18. Let's play ninja!

**Next chapter: Let's play ninja!**

Less than ten minutes later Sora, Kairi and Sakura stood in front of a ninja with a scar over the bridge of his nose and a flak jacket over a black shirt and the Leaf forehead protector on his forehead. At the moment Sakura was looking at him with a pleading expression while he looked at her strangely. "Iruka Sensei, can you do me a favour?" When he inclined his head for her to continue she grinned. "Can you teach these two to become shinobi? I know it's on short notice but they arrived sooner than we expected." Iruka looked at Sora before he slowly let his gaze travel to Kairi before he flicked his eyes back toward Sakura. "How far along are they with their training?" This seemed to be a question Sakura had hoped she hadn't wanted to answer. "None." Iruka's eyes widened before he ran his hand down his face, a tired sigh escaping from his lips. "Can they at least use seals? Or use chakra effectively? Anything at all?" When Sakura shot him a sheepish grimace he groaned. "I knew I should have stayed in bed." He looked at Sora through half-lidded eyes. "What's your name?" Sora answered and Iruka asked Kairi, to which she answered as well. "Can you fight?" They both smiled knowing smiles and he seemed to know from their looks that they could. "Can you think without letting your emotions interfere with your judgement?" They both nodded again and he asked them another couple questions before he seemed pleased. "At least I won't have to start at the very beginning with you. But I will have to give you extra classes and attention, so you can catch up with the other students." Sora shrugged and Kairi thanked him. "Good, classes start at eight. See you there." Iruka bid Sakura follow him and the two of them left Sora and Kairi to fend for themselves in probably the only school they would both love.

When the time came for Sora and Kairi to attend class they shuffled into the room and they both froze at the flow of noise, the noise of small children who _actually enjoy school._ But the kids fell silent when Kairi sat down on Iruka's desk, looking at the kids in good faith. 'I can enjoy this.' She shot Sora a look and she almost laughed at the expression of pain on his face. 'He's not. He likes kids but they rarely like him. I never found out why. He's good with everyone, no matter how old they are.' She giggled when Sora scowled at her, as if he knew what she was thinking. "Come on Sora! Time to play ninja! With real ninjas and real weapons and magic and smoke and well, stuff." She was pleased when a smile did grace his face, but she felt her now old sadness chill her when she saw the flash of empty eye sockets. Before she could dwell on it though, the door opened and Iruka walked in, carrying a box with pointy stuff inside. He set it down on the desk and started piling the weapons and scrolls and other thing Kairi couldn't recognise onto the table, into two identical piles.

Kairi wound the bandage around her leg and strapped the leather holster to it, already glad that she's spent hours making sure she could suppress her Shadow Hand, even in the most stressful situations. She twirled a kunai around a finger and watched the light play across the shiny surface, the bag with scrolls and shuriken already strapped around her waist. "It's not normal procedure to have a novice handling this but you two obviously aren't normal, since Tsunade herself had you signed into the Academy. As such I will teach you more about the shinobi faster than I ever have before and probably will again. I don't like skipping the basics but Tsunade made it clear you must be able to handle Chūnin when I'm done. As such you two no longer have lives, you will do the work I assign and practice in your free time. Am I clear?" Kairi had the faint impression that Iruka wasn't usually as strict as he was but she understood why he did what he did, they only had weeks to become accomplished shinobi, maybe even days. "We understand. And don't worry, we might be new to shinobi training but we are used to fighting." Iruka nodded and told them to go to their seats, which, thankfully, were at the very back.

As Kairi listened to Iruka speak she hear Sora murmur words below his breath, words she had heard before but couldn't remember where. "Kairi, lower the defence around your mind please. I want to see what Iruka is explaining." Kairi raised her eyebrows but did as Sora said, feeling a slight probe touch her mind. With a grunt he withdrew. "I think I need help, Eragon never taught me this, not like Arya taught you." Kairi closed her eyes slightly to help her concentrate and did as Arya had taught her. She reached out with her mind and bound herself to Sora, his thoughts brushing against her own as she embraced his mind with her own. And through this frail connection he experienced everything she felt, just as she experienced everything he did.'Thank you.' Sora's voice echoed thorough her mind and she let her love brush against his mind, saying without words what he already knew.

Sora watched Iruka explain about chakra production, how a shinobi produced chakra by melding his body's stamina and strength with his spiritual energy. 'It's like magic. Except we only use our body's energy.' And when he reached for the pulsing stream of energy within him he felt his body's energy shy away from his spirit's, like Donald and Merlin had taught him. "It's to ensure you do not die when you cast a spell that is taxing, if your body fails you'll pass out but when your body and spirit fail you will die." He had heeded Merlin's advice but now he let his two energies combine, having the two separate and merging them again. As he did this he noticed that the more he did it the harder it got to separate his two energies until he could no longer do it. While he did this he felt Kairi do the same, her energies merged together once and refused to separate, her inexperience in magic for once giving her an edge over him. 'Ha ha. For once.' He smiled as her words echoed around in his head, making sure to have his amusement travel into her mind as well.

Sora watched though Kairi's eyes as the day went by, first the study of chakra and then the practice. In the study he did moderately while Kairi excelled. In the practical, shifting their chakra to different parts of their body Sora failed miserably, for he always flooded his entire body with energy to fuel a spell, making it as strong as possible, while Kairi excelled again, her inherent control over her Light giving her experience Sora didn't have, so she could finish the exercise with barely a try. As they worked they paid attention to the rest of the class, all of them not even ten in age, watching them go through the exercises as if they were used to them, which they probably were, only showing strain at the most difficult tasks. One such task only four completed, in a class of twenty-four, twenty-six if Sora and Kairi added themselves to the number, the rest of the class watching in awe as their fellow students stood on a unmoving pool of water a couple feet deep. When Iruka told Sora and Kairi to try the class looked on in obvious amusement, for they had been doing this for a week, and Sora and Kairi had barely grasped the concept of chakra, never mind using it. Kairi went first, her excitement making her heart pound just as much as her anticipation. She lowered her foot and channelled all the chakra to the lower half of her body, her foot hovering less than a hairsbreadth over the surface. When Iruka told her again she lowered her foot and stepped forward with her other foot, the foot already over the water sinking an inch before holding steady. The longer she stood the higher her feet rose out of the water, until she stood on the pool with ripples spreading from her feet outward, her breathing calm and even.

Sora channelled all the chakra he had, which was incredibly large if what Iruka told him was anything to go by, and lowered his foot onto the pool, not even hesitating before putting his foot down. For a second his foot held, until with a hiss and a splutter, the surface of the pond began to bubble as he stepped onto it, his blind eyes allowing him to focus on what he could not see, the constant flow of chakra within him. He saw himself stand on the pond, Kairi's own excitement mirroring his own as they both accomplished what students who've been working for chakra all their lives still couldn't do. But Kairi also saw Iruka and his students stare at him, the pond boiling hot below him. He stood where he was, arms crossed and his breathing calm. When Kairi joined him the pool stopped bubbling, the surface of the pond smooth once more. A sound of clapping interrupted them both, more and more applause followed as the students cheered them on. As Sora grinned like a fool he bent forward to bow, forgetting for a second where he was, and his control slipped, his feet falling into the pond. Kairi tried to catch him but she too lost her control and they both slipped under the surface, choking on the water as they laughed. When the breached the surface the continued laughing, until Iruka told them to cut it out.

Sora slopped back into the classroom, his hair sticking to his skin, his clothes weighing him down. But he didn't complain, instead he threw himself into the next lesson, hand-seals. At this he advanced faster than Kairi or anyone else, the precision with which he fought coming to his aid. Kairi's hands moved almost as fast as his, but Iruka's speed dwarfed their own. Feeling disappointed Sora slowed the speed at which he made his seals and concentrated on the quality. Before long his attention wavered as he performed the seals again and again, Iruka correcting him only occasionally. Their next class involved taijutsu, hand-to-hand fighting. Iruka set Sora against Kairi but he soon realised his mistake, for Kairi would not strike Sora and Sora couldn't strike Kairi. So he had them watch and work on their flexibility. Kairi sense of balance and ability to bend almost completely over came from years of dancing, which is one of the things John had encouraged, while Sora's life of constantly fighting had forced him to learn to flex and move in ways he normally wouldn't without falling. So they both had an above average level of balance and flexibility, combined with their considerable strength and endurance they could do poses that would rip bones from muscle on normal humans. When they had both proved to Iruka that they could manoeuvre in any possible way without hurting themselves he bid them watch the mock-fighting the other students participated in.

The next class was something Kairi had been looking forward to, ninjutsu. Ever since Sakura had explained about Susanoo she been excited about learning about jutsu in general, especially ninjutsu. First Iruka showed the class the necessary hand-seal then explained what kind of jutsu he wanted them to perform and with what intent. What they did almost disappointed her but she understood that if she wanted to walk or run she had to crawl first. And crawl she did, she created six clones instead of the required one. Sora created eight but they all flopped to the ground a second before they disintegrated in a puff of smoke. Iruka scolded Sora and he tried again, creating four, fully functional clones.

Before long Iruka had gone through genjutsu, weapon skills, survival skills and a lesson on history. In history both Kairi and Sora listened intently, absorbing the knowledge they gained with enthusiasm. And then the day was done, Iruka handed out homework and last minute instructions before the students scattered, except for Sora and Kairi, who he called forward. "You did good. Extraordinary actually, to use chakra and jutsu on your first day. I've never seen the equal..." He trailed off before he smiled, a smile that spoke about how proud he actually was. "If you continue like this you'll pass in a week. The Chūnin exams are a week from now so you may enter those...if you graduate. Before you can even begin to consider the exams you must first master the basic skills, I've seen nothing on your taijutsu while you both excelled at nin- and genjutsu. But from the way you move and the way you flexed and balanced told me enough to know that you are competent in taijutsu." He nodded at them both, they nodded in return and turned to leave and stopped at the door when he called them back. "Another thing the Hokage told me to give you." He handed them both four scrolls, two that they could fit in the bag containing their shuriken while the other two they had to hold beneath their arms. "Those are Chūnin scrolls. They contain jutsu and techniques I would not normally give away so easily but once again I am sure you won't kill yourselves. Take care of them, for if some fool-hearted genin or lower shinobi got their hands on those we'd have a problem. If you have difficulty ask me, and if I am not available ask a Jōnin, they'll help you. And if your need is great you can even ask a Chūnin. Now, go." And they did, their arms full and their minds still thirsty for more.

Later that same day Sora and Kairi sat on the bed of Kairi's room, the scrolls they've been given open and their eyes drinking in the knowledge. At the moment Kairi was reading a technique called 'Shadow clone jutsu.' She had already tried but the chakra needed was more than she could gather at will, she had to gather all her energy and wait until she had more until she could release the jutsu. She was certain that if her chakra control was better she wouldn't struggle as she was. Another problem was her chakra, it was too light and airy for such a taxing jutsu, so it took more chakra than it would a normal shinobi. 'At least Sora's having more trouble than me.' And he was, his chakra was too wild and uncontrolled for him to use it precisely, so he had to use three or even four times the chakra he would normally need, this wasn't much of a problem but some of the jutsu left his exceedingly weak and left him gasping for breath.

Before long they both gave in, too tired to practice jutsu that required more than the barest minimal efforts, and went to look for Sakura. Remembering Iruka's warning, they took the scrolls with them, the larger scrolls strapped to their backs and the smaller ones in the pouch tied to their waist. And they found Sakura, in a training field, with Ino. From what Kairi could see they were training but having fun, their growls of frustration mingling with their laughs. They both stopped what they were doing when Kairi came stumbling up, her clothes still damp from the little dip. Both Sakura and Ino asked how their training went and Sora scowled before he paced from where Kairi stood to a root jutting out of the ground. While he paced Kairi told Ino and Sakura what Iruka had told them and what he had given them. "Chūnin exam huh? That's more than he expected from us, he barely passed Naruto. And now he's saying your gonna graduate in a week, that's good." Sora's scowl deepened before he kicked at the root, sending dirt into the air. Ino eyes him with an eyebrow delicately raised. Kairi smiled sheepishly. "He's struggling with some of the jutsu. He can't control his chakra enough, while my chakra is too weak to do much more than make one shadow clone." Ino's mouth flopped open while Sakura smiled. "Shadow clones? That's Jōnin level." Kairi shrugged and Sora's scowl lessened slightly. "Yeah, but that's not stopping us. We wanna pass by the end of the week and reach Chūnin. Just for fun, you know." Sakura smiled before she reached out her hand, her hand open. "Give me the scroll, I'll help."

And she did, before long Sora had gained some control over his chakra so he could cast ten shadow clones while Kairi could comfortably cast six. Sora unrolled the next scroll and looked through Kairi's eyes. What he saw baffled him. "Nature type? What's that?" Sakura herself couldn't use an element but she left to go get someone who could. She returned with a ruffled looking Kakashi, his eye following her wherever she went as if he was expecting something. But he let it go, looking at Sora and Kairi with happy eyes. "Nature types. On the first day, happy day." And to him it was, he started explaining about the different nature types and what they did. Before long he handed them pieces of paper, which he had them pass their chakra through. Sora's piece of paper burst into flame while Kairi's sagged as if wet. "Fire and water. Unexpected combination but not necessarily a bad thing." And it turned out it wasn't a bad thing, as Kakashi could cast both fire and water with no difficulty. He taught Kairi first, since she had the most control. He had her stand on the water opposite him and let her chakra flow and roil like waves, had her send her chakra into the water. He then had her cast one jutsu. Which he demonstrated. "Water style: Water pillar." He showed her the seals slowly, so she could memorise them quickly enough to try a second later. Six pillars of water rose around Kakashi, whirling around him until they created an impenetrable wall of water. When he was done he had the pillars billow outward, needles of water cutting through the air like steel needles.

Kairi flooded her body with chakra and sent it down...down...down into the water, her chakra grasping the water so it would follow her command. She used the hand-seals Kakashi had shown her and felt her chakra drain away, the water rippling around her as small pillars rose up. When it seemed they would soar upward like Kakashi's the pillars fell back down, leaving the water smooth like a mirror. She performed the seals again, adding more chakra than before. "Water style: Water pillar." Her chakra raged around her and pillars rose around her, only to collapse a second later, leaving her even weaker than before. Kakashi congratulated her nonetheless. "Few can even mould their chakra the correct way in the beginning. But you, you had the water rise up, something very few can accomplish. So my advice: practice your water manipulation and your chakra control. Even if you only manage to master your chakra control the jutsu will be much stronger, and if you master both the jutsu would devastate." Kakashi walked back onto land and stood in front of Sora, arms crossed and his eye lazy.

Sora watched through Kairi's eyes as Kakashi showed him the seals, making sure to memorise them, and also noted how Kakashi's chakra raged like a flame before he performed the seals. "This jutsu was reserved to the Uchiha but when they fell fire users started using it, even if it is just because this technique is so powerful yet basic. The Uchiha only regarded their children adults if they can perform this jutsu." Kakashi turned away from Sora and bent over backward as he took a deep breath, his chest swelling and his cheeks puffing outward. "Fire style: Great Fireball Technique." Sora shrank away at the wave of heat the fire made, because, as he saw through Kairi, the fireball was enormous. It billowed outward from the stream that flowed from Kakashi's cupped hand, the heat enough to scorch the grass without the fire touching it. With a gasp Kakashi lowered his hand, the fire dying as it lost its source of fuel. Kakashi waved Sora forward and he did just that, he faced away from everyone in case he lost control and did what Kakashi had told him. He gathered chakra to his mouth and lungs and he drew in a breath as he let his chakra rage into an unquenchable inferno of heat and madness, his chakra becoming darker and darker until it nearly blackened his mind with its foul influence. Ino and Sakura both let out whispers about how heavy and oppressive his chakra had become but he ignored them, he made the seals and screamed the jutsu within his mind, focusing on what he wanted to accomplish. 'Burn them all, reduce them to ash and make them suffer.' As he opened his mouth and held his cupped hand in front of his mouth he felt his flesh heat up, blistering in some places and burning in others. But then he released the jutsu, seeing it through Kairi's eyes as he was he almost lost his focus, but he merely let his pain empower him and the fire burned all the hotter, all the brighter because of it.

Sakura watched in stunned disbelief as a fire of massive proportions emerged from Sora, the fire burning almost the entirety of the lake she had gazed at in appreciation mere moments ago. Her eyes tearing up from the heat she covered her face with her upturned arm, squinting through the blaze the fire made. It made Kakashi's large ball of fire look like a spark next to a forest fire, in both size and intensity. Where Kakashi's fire had merely burned everything it touched Sora's fire spread red tendrils of fire to ensnare ever larger sections of the water and training grounds. The longer the jutsu burned the bigger and hotter it became, until the lake had turned to steam that could melt the flesh off someone bones. And with a gasp Sora lowered his hand, the fire curling up toward the sky as it vanished into the cloud of steam. He took a step back before he sank down onto one knee, his shoulders shaking as he gasped for breath. "Wow, that was fun." He turned around as he rose to his feet, a smile splitting his face as sweat made his hair stick to his face. His chakra had turned back to normal, but it still had a dark edge that it hadn't had before, making it more stable and also stronger. If she could give it a colour she would say it was a midnight blue, both pure and clean but powerful in the extreme. As Sakura stared at him in disbelief and pride he walked toward them, his face flushed and his breathing still ragged. When he came to a halt the last of the steam had turned to liquid once more, a cloudless rain pervading the area in warm rivulets.

Sakura nodded toward Kakashi, seeing Ino do the same. "They're ready." With his decision made Kakashi raised his hand and made a seal, vanishing into a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared he was gone, leaving Sora and Kairi to return to their rooms and leaving Ino and Sakura to train. But he was expecting too much, neither Sora and Kairi had the impulse to return to their rooms to study dusty scrolls if they had the guidance of two _very_ helpful Chūnin to help them if they needed it. Most of the jutsu they could do on their own, with a slight observation helping them correct a slight flaw that they had overseen. Before long both Sora and Kairi could cast several jutsu that would render a Genin or even a Chūnin unable to move with little to no difficulty, leaving them panting for breath but recovering quickly. From the way Ino was helping Kairi Sakura could see that she liked the girl their own age, if only because she brightened their day with her innocent manner of being. Another thing Sakura noticed was that Sora never used the same chakra as when he'd used the Great Fireball. When she asked him about it he just shrugged and said: "If the time comes for me to fight I'll use whatever power I have, no matter the cost to myself." She also noticed that although Sora acted all tough and cold his face was always warm when he turned to them, his voice always kind when he spoke to them.

When the sun was beginning to set Ino said her farewell before leaving, her body tired after a full day but weightless with accomplishment. As she walked home her thoughts always returned to the boy with the kind voice and midnight hair and how he had turned into a ruthless fighter the time he used the Great Fireball. 'Sakura hasn't noticed what he does, but I did. He can change the feel of his chakra with the amount of merciless bloodlust he allows himself to feel. But he has to force himself, he's gentle both in words and actions but he knows he must do whatever it takes to win. He's noble and honourable, yet he feels misery each time he turns away from us. Each time he touched his eyes his chakra became cold, cruel, foul. Whoever took his eyes is in for a world of hurt when he finds them.' When she stepped through the entrance to the training ground she heard a twig snap behind her and she froze, her hand already going to the kunai she had strapped to her leg. "Who's there?" When no answer came she continued walking, her eyes kept darting from shadow to shadow. When she looked into a particular dark shadow the shadow faded, revealing Ivy sitting with her legs crossed and her hands resting on her lap sitting with her back against her a tree. All around her lay small twigs and the remains of branches, showing signs that Ivy had been either incredibly bored or incredibly frustrated with something. And the way she kept shifting around and casting her eyes around Ino suspected the latter. Ivy motioned her closer with a small flick of her wrist and Ino hesitantly stepped from the path, a deep shadow obscuring them from view.

Ino stood with her hand on her hip, leaning on her right leg as she waited for Ivy to speak. When she didn't Ino did, if just to break the silence. "What've you been up to today Ivy?" She made certain to keep her voice warm and sweet, like honey. But Ivy wasn't fooled, she flicked a twig from her leg and raked her eyes over Ino. "Looking for Itachi." Ino drew in a sharp breath at the most-hated and feared name but did nothing, just waited for Ivy to speak with her with her own time. "I listened to the whispers of the land for hours, looking for a _sign_, but I found nothing. And that concerns me." Ino nodded her head, seeing why something like ignorance would trouble Ivy. "That I heard nothing can mean two things. One, he's aware that I'm searching for him and has taken precautions against my tracking. Or two, he's too close for the whispers to be of any use or he's too far for the land to remember him. The second option is more likely, as is the latter of the two, I would know if Itachi was nearby. That leaves two ways for me to proceed. One: I continue searching for him as I am. Or two, I leave until I find him and somehow convince him to return with me to help Sora. The second would be the fastest but the least likely to succeed. And then I saw Sora playing around with his demon, his Dark power. When I saw what he did something else occurred to me. I join Sora and Kairi in training and graduate with them and have the three of us search for Itachi. But that in itself would cause more problems that it would cause. Most important of which you already know. I hate the shinobi and I would do anything to avoid them. So tell me Ino, what should I do? Search on my own and search for a man most people would want dead or remain here until Sora and Kairi stop playing around?"

Ino reigned in her anger as Ivy mocked all she lived for, and would probably die for, for her own amusement. But she bit back her retort and set about thinking about the problem Ivy has set for her. "The Chūnin exam is next week, and both Sora and Kairi have shown an interest in becoming Chūnin. If they wish to enlist in the challenge they need another Genin with them, otherwise they can't enter. My opinion, and this is just my opinion, join them at the Academy and form a team with them. Once the test is over you can decide what you want to do. The test is meant to strengthen bonds with the other Nations and so it does, but it is also a way to learn about the other Nations, their shinobi and their politics. Try it, you might just find that you'll enjoy yourself. You might even find that we 'heartless bastards' are fun to be around." Ivy nodded as Ino fell silent, a thin smile gracing her face. "Yes, I might at that." Satisfied Ino turned on her heel and started back toward the path, only turning to look back when she stood on the path once more. 'What a strange woman.' But instead on dwelling on Ivy as she would normally she instead looked up at the sky and started running, seeing that she was already late for dinner.

Kairi slipped out of Sora's embrace and went to stand by the window, her airy shirt allowing the night chill to caress her skin. 'This place is beautiful. No matter how scarred it may be from the war it still has beauty, at least Ivy can appreciate that. Sora does, and he can't even see.' With a sigh she took the ribbon from her hair and let it fall unhindered to her shoulders, noting that it was longer than what it had been when they'd left the Islands. As she wound a lock around her finger she looked at the night sky, the stars shards of ice and the night sky an endless pool of depthless water. As she turned back to the bed she took the necklace Sora had given her in her hand and held it to her lips, the metal warm against her cold skin. She got back into bed and closed her eyes, still seeing the look of savage delight cross Sora's face as he burned the world. With a sigh she turned on her side and let sleep take her, dreaming that she was on the Islands once more, the sun making her hair a burning halo while she watched Sora play in the water that came up to his waist.

Kairi walked into the class just as Iruka scowled at a blond girl who Kairi recognised from somewhere. For a second she thought it was Yaela, on account of her pale locks falling to her narrow hips. But then she turned around and Kairi saw the blue eyes, the corners of the girl's mouth curling up in a thin smile. "Hey Ivy. Here for school?" At Ivy's scowl Kairi shrugged, already heading up the stairs with Sora to their seats. Ivy joined them soon enough, her arms full of the scroll, shuriken and kunai Iruka had given her. She stuffed all her nin equipment in the pouch at her waist but kept the kunai with her, twirling it around her finger in a lazy circle. "Are you done yet?" Kairi sighed, hoping the sound would drive Ivy to sit down and shut up. But Ivy wasn't that easy to shake off. "Have you graduated yet?" Instead of speaking Kairi just shook her head and leaned back in her seat, thinking about the jutsu Iruka's scroll had taught them, making sure to become familiar with the seals of each one and the amount of chakra needed for each one.

Kairi sighed a quite sense of relief when Iruka began the lesson, teaching about how to detect and disarm traps. She threw herself into the lessons, not even aware that Ivy was beside her. As the day progressed Iruka began to question and drill Kairi and Sora with increasingly difficult questions, the only way they could answer was to bring in their own experience in life and in fighting. At the end of the day Iruka bid them to stay behind as the rest of the students filed out into the sun. When the last student and Ivy left Iruka closed the door and leaned against his desk. "I have arranged for the two of you to be tested this afternoon to become Genin. What I have learned about the two of you today and yesterday has assured me that you are worthy of our symbol." Kairi thanked Iruka heartily, pressing him for questions about the test and what it entailed. He cut her off, however, by waving his hand through the air. "That you must discover on your own. Part of the test is gauging your logic and intellect as well as your adaptability. Be at the training grounds in an hour, there you will be tested. Good luck." And he left, leaving the two of them to stress about what the test entailed.

Kairi stepped forward, anticipation gnawing at her belly as she looked at the three Jōnin ready to judge whether she was fit to the title Genin. One she recognised, it was Kakashi, but he treated her like a stranger, professionally. The first few instructions they gave were easy, a clone here and an example of walking on water there. Before she knew it a forehead protected was placed in her hands and all three Jōnin congratulated her on an excellent display of control and technique. Then it was Sora's turn, him they judged harshly, asking him to perform moves and jutsu more difficult than the child's play they'd had Kairi do. Yet no matter how difficult the jutsu or precise the movement Sora performed it to perfection. His last task was to break the genjutsu they would cast on him. And with a pleased smile he gave his consent for them to attack him. Kairi knew why Sora was pleased with his final task, genjutsu was easy for him to divert and deploy. Within the span of five seconds two of the Jōnin were on the ground, having run head-first into each other while Kakashi looked at them with a disappointed gleam in his eyes. "Pass." And he tossed a forehead protector into Sora's hands, clapping him on the shoulder as he walked passed him.

Kairi watched as Sora held his forehead protector in his hands, running his fingers over the Leaf's symbol again and again. He raised the bandana to his head but hesitated, the cloth not even touching his forehead. With a single, precise movement he lowered his hands and tied his forehead protector around his neck, so it nestled against in the hollow of his throat. She didn't ask him why he did it, for she had tied hers to the sash she wore. Before she could ask herself why she hadn't tied it to her forehead Sakura ran up to them, a smile tugging at her lips when she saw their forehead protectors. "You passed." It wasn't a question. "Good, c'mon, I'd like to introduce you to a couple people."

A couple people turned out to be some of the comrades she had gone on with various missions. At first they were polite and withdrawn, as if Sora and Kairi were fellow shinobi, but as the day wore on and they talked most of them relaxed, speaking in warm tones. Except for Neji and Shino, but from the way they spoke to their long-time friends Kairi knew it was just how they were. Soon Kairi lost track of time, the small shop they had gathered not letting in any light to show if the sun had set or not. Before long what tension her body had harboured had vanished, fuel for her laughs and joyous words. And one thought kept circling within her mind, over and over until she left the shop with Sora and Sakura in tow. 'I could live here.'

The days that followed passed quickly, Sora and Kairi training when they could and relaxing when they couldn't. Kairi noticed that the people she encountered from a day to day basis had relaxed since she had received her forehead protector, as if they now accepted her as one of their own. Sora, they treated in a similar way, except that they never joked or teased him as they did her. Although he didn't seem to mind Kairi often saw him chewing on his lip with an exasperated look on his face and when she asked him about it he would just shrug and turn away. When she was training people came to watch, giving her advice and teaching her a jutsu they had chanced upon. To her the Leaf was an extended family, spats as common as celebration, close friends more common than hated rivals. And more often than not a Jōnin was present, their face an emotionless mask as they watched her from the shadows. She even found a man sitting in a tree, a mask over his face with a tattoo on his bare shoulder, watching as she practiced a particularly difficult water jutsu. But he had just inclined his head toward him and vanished, not even a puff of smoke betraying his movement. When she mentioned it to Sora he had just shrugged. "I know. They're trying to find out what we can do."

Kairi sat up, her head stiff after her nap against the boughs of the tree she'd sat down against. She looked up and watched as Ivy cut across the path, her eyes darting to either side as she kept low to the ground, not seeing Kairi in the shadow she lay in. 'What's she doing?' With barely a sound Ivy jumped, soaring over the treetops as she swung from branch to branch until she stood on the very top. Ivy swept her eyes around the area before she started dancing from tree to tree, her body twisting and turning as she leaped from tree to tree, soon vanishing from Kairi's sight. With a grunt Kairi stood up, seeing that the sun was on the western horizon, red rays shining in her eyes as she herself jumped, grabbing hold of a branch before she swung herself up. She too glanced around but no one else was around, and even if they were they wouldn't spare a glance if a sudden gust made the tree above them quiver and shake. With a motion that had become second nature Kairi channelled her chakra throughout her body, especially her legs and hands before she started running the way Ivy had gone. Before long Ivy's golden hair was visible to her, her legs lithe and her arms long as she ran on the tips of branches that would break if a child hung from them. Kairi herself ran on branches she was sure would support her, branches as thick as her thigh while Ivy jumped onto braches that were sometimes as thin as Kairi very narrow wrist, the branches seeming to push her further along.

Kairi followed Ivy deep into the forest, falling into the tree when Ivy looked back. Kairi had given in to the movement of her flesh, just feeling the touch of the rough boughs under her fingers and the wind rushing over her skin, so when Ivy stopped where she was, balancing on the tip of a pine that towered fifty feet over the canopy she was only mildly distressed, not even caring when Ivy dropped through the trees. But she did stop when she reached the edge of the canopy, making sure she was in deep shadow as she followed Ivy's progress as she paced the small clearing.

Kairi had just begun to sit down in boredom when a shadow passed over the ground, revealing a shinobi when it stopped in front of Ivy. The ninja was unlike any Kairi had seen, but this wasn't saying much, but she did recognise the four diagonal marks on his forehead protector, as well as the slashed groove that ran horizontally from one side to the other. 'Hidden Mist. Missing nin.' Kairi knew that the Hidden mist was infamous for their spies and traitors, but she would never have guessed that Ivy would go against the Leaf and meddle with a missing nin from another village. 'At least he's not Akatsuki.' For she had learned from Sakura about Akatsuki, and she had learned from Kakashi how to recognise them. But this nin wore a sleeveless vest and black gloves with two short-swords held in his rope-belt. While she had been examining him Ivy had been speaking to him, so Kairi had missed some of her words. "...get rid of the ANBU tracking you, you brainless fish! Get me what I asked and I will reward you. Go, and don't dare contact me until you find him!" With a bow the missing-nin vanished again, his shadow tracing the ground the way he had come.

Before he was even out of sight a tree fell toward Ivy, who promptly jumped toward it and thrust her hand toward it, the tree splitting in two as it fell. "Nice. The way you were scolding that gilled rat had me thinking you're incompetent." From the forest a woman with black hair strode, only an eye visible through the locks that covered her face. All Kairi could see of her was black leather and a polished bow, the wood glowing from the light of the moon. The bow was strapped to her back but an arrow was clutched in her hand, the barbed tip glowing merrily as she twirled it around her fingers. Around her left arm was bound her forehead protector, the cloth serving to protect her flesh from the taut wire that spanned her bow. The symbol that was etched into the steel was scraped off, only the groove that indicated she was missing-nin still visible. "I at least took care of the ANBU close to the border, whereas he was followed from the Land of Waves." She inclined her head toward Ivy and Ivy did the same, her face harsh as she regarded the nin. "Did you find him?" The woman shook her head and Ivy curled her lip, a scowl distorting her face. "Like I told your accomplice I don't wish to hear from you until you found him. Have you news from the others?" The woman shook her head and Ivy raised her hands as if to strangle her but contented herself to rub her temples. "He found them. Finally, I found him." Ivy fixed the woman in a glare and she strode forward, grabbing the woman around her arm as she pulled her closer. "Go, find him. And if you see him contact me, I would be there before the day is done. Go!" With a quick nod the woman drew her bow and fit the arrow to the thin wire, the feathers caressing her cheek as she held it toward the way she had come. "Your will be done. I expect my reward before I show him to you. Understood?" Ivy nodded gravely and the woman smiled, letting loose of the arrow a second later.

Kairi watched as the woman and her bow vanished, wisps of smoke clinging to the arrow as it vanished into the night. With a scowl in the direction the woman, for the woman had unmistakably moved with the arrow with the use of some unknown jutsu, Ivy moved back toward the trees, skirting the one she had destroyed, and jumped once more. Kairi froze as Ivy sailed over her, not even breathing as Ivy jumped on the bough Kairi sat under, the scent she always carried with her moving with her, spicy and sweet. As the sounds of her travel ceased Kairi let out the breath she'd been holding, her heart racing as she considered what she'd learned. 'Who is Ivy trying to find? Itachi? Or someone else?' Kairi got to her feet and made her way back to the Leaf, going faster now that she needn't worry about being discovered.

Kairi sank down to the ground, the sudden drain in chakra making her vision flash and her legs turn to rubber. She sat where she was for several minutes, the few shinobi around her murmuring to each other, the jutsu she'd just attempted a higher level of difficulty than any she's tried before. It had failed, drawing the chakra the perfected jutsu would require with it, the water of the pond beside her rippling as it all sank down again. "Great Waterfall, not easy." She looked to the side, seeing Sora meditating inside of the ring of fire he'd made with his chakra, seeing his form ripple as the heat distorted the image. 'He's doing well.' And he was, he could easily use most of the fire jutsu Kakashi and the scrolls had taught him, only the most complex and most taxing draining him to the brink of collapse. As she watched Sora raised his hand, the wall of fire that burned around him flaring brighter before it died, leaving the ground scorched and blackened. As she watched Sora raised his hands and performed some seals, drawing in a breath as he did. As he exhaled a rippling jet of fire snaked out of his mouth and took the form of a lion, the shape hazy and distorted but unmistakably a lion. At his command the lion roared and breathed fire, the air around it crackling with heat. As Sora guided the lion's actions the lion rose into the sky and started to run, his mane lengthening with each flaming step, until a sheet of burning fur trailed behind it, roaring all the while, until, with a final roar that clawed at Kairi's eardrums the lion burst into a raging inferno of flames.

Of the three jutsu Sora had created by adapting existing jutsu Kairi liked the one he had just used the least. 'Fire Style: Leo Incineration. The very name is cruel to animals. ' Kairi knew why Sora had chosen a lion over a dragon or some other creature of fire. He turned into a lion when he went to Pride Rock, and he turned into a lion because his personality reflected a lion's: fierce, loyal, determined, caring for its own and ruthless to his enemies, and she loved him for it. But the way he kept using the jutsu again and again, watching the lion roar in agony as it was engulfed in flames made her heart ache. But she understood the reason he made the lion feel brutal pain, for it reflected what he'd gone through recently. He'd been burned and broken, beaten and slashed as if he was a slave, a slave to the World's hurt. And he shouldered the pain willingly, but no matter how willingly he would become enraged at the treatment. He was like a dog that had been whipped for no reason until, one day, the dog had fought back, displaying a ferocity the one who wielded the whip had never known the dog had, for the dog wasn't a dog at all, but a raging wolf, born to lead the pack and kill all those who stood in his way. Kairi knew that if Sora didn't turn into a lion in the Pride Lands he would turn into a wolf or some other beast that was born to lead its own.

Kairi swung her legs like when she's been a little girl, watching the assortment of shinobi living their lives as she watched from the gate, Sakura beside her. "How goes your training?" Kairi grunted, not in the mood to discuss her training. She'd been training all day, only stopping because she's passed out earlier from exhaustion, the third time in two days she'd passed out. Her only consolation was that Sora himself was struggling, his body starting to show the strain from using such high level jutsu. Sakura seemed to understand, not pushing the subject as they sat in comfortable silence. "The Chūnin exam is this week." Kairi looked at Sakura through the crook of her arms, her head resting on her arms, and gave her a look that was both puzzled and curious. "Kakashi sensei wants to know if he should sign you up." Kairi leaned back and nodded, Sakura smiling in a satisfied manner. But then her face clouded with concern. "And the third member of your team? Is it Ivy?" Kairi shrugged, not knowing the answer. She hadn't seen Ivy since she'd followed her to the clearing in the woods, and before that she had only caught glimpses as the older girl wandered into official looking buildings. "Dunno. I don't even think she's graduated." Kairi leaned back and opened her shirt slightly, feeling the sun kiss the skin of her neck and shoulders. "She graduated the morning after you did. With flying colours if I might add." Kairi looked up slowly, already so used to the shinobi's quiet footsteps that she was rarely surprised to find one standing behind her, breathing down her neck.

Kairi covered her eyes with a hand and looked at Kakashi, not believing what he said. "She graduated? Are you sure?" At his nod she chuckled, imagining the Ivy's discomfort as the Jōnin judged her. "That must've sucked for her." Kakashi's eyelid lowered until it hovered just above his pupil. "No, she enjoyed it. Iruka even went so far as to say she didn't want to leave the Academy." At this Kairi was stunned. "She didn't want to leave? Why?" Kakashi tilted his head to the side at the dry sarcasm that pervaded her tone, but his voice was level and clear of amusement. "Iruka said she loved being with the kids. Said she helped them as best she could with their training. He even said she was a better teacher than him. Can't imagine that, someone better than him."

Kairi looked at Kakashi as if he'd just sprouted wings and was flitting around in nothing but a loincloth. But he seemed serious, almost shockingly so. Finally, after a sigh and an eye-roll, "You're not gonna say 'Fooled ya' or something, are you? You're serious about this?." He inclined his head and Kairi stood up, annoyance mingling with her happy-go-lucky attitude. "Then I should probably go ask if she could be our last team member." When she turned to leave Kakashi grabbed her wrist and swung her around, staring at her with his eye harder than normal. "That's why I came here. She already signed the three of you in for the Chūnin exam, against my consent as your team leader." Kairi cocked her head to the side and smiled a small smile. "She doesn't follow orders. She does what she wants and I pity the person who stands in her way. You should have asked Sora to tell her to stand down and listen to you, him she does listen too. Why she listens to him I don't know but he has a hold over her, she listens to his advice more than mine or anyone else's." With a half-shrug Kairi sat back down, closing her eyes as the sun burst through the clouds overhead. "I can't say I'm angry with her for signing us in, I should thank her."

Sakura stood up as Kakashi turned to leave and followed him, leaving Kairi to bath in the bright sun. When she was sure they were out of sight and hearing distance from Kairi she called Kakashi's attention to her. "Sensei, what did she do?" She had noticed how his words had gone colder than usual when he'd discussed Ivy. "She's dangerous, more dangerous than Sora and Kairi. Them I understand because they will kill who they must, but Ivy," here he shook his head slowly, as if he was contemplating something. "she does the most bizarre things. Yesterday she stood talking to a tree close to The Forest of Death, madness I understand but the strange thing was...the tree leaned down as if to whisper something in her ear. There was no breeze and yet the branches moved over each other." Kakashi shivered, something she's never seen or even knew he could do. "I've heard about shinobi communing with the forest, but I never thought I'd see one. Shinobi can manipulate the forest for to their advantage but having them move...its unnatural, even by our standards. Madara's tree manipulation I understand, they merely do his bidding yet never spoke to him, but this..." With a choke and a shudder Kakashi fell silent, shaking like he'd shook when Itachi had released him from Tsukuyomi.

Kakashi walked away, his tower of spiky white hair visible until he disappeared around a corner. As Sakura walked back toward the gate and Kairi she couldn't help but wonder if she'd done the wrong thing in calling Tsunade to heal Ivy. 'She could be a very powerful ally or a very dangerous foe, either way she's too powerful to have running around. At least in the Chūnin exams the Jōnin can keep an eye on her.' When she returned to Kairi the girl was fast asleep, her cheek resting on the railing and her arm hovering in the air. With a smile Sakura sat down, looking into the blue sky as she watched over Kairi, thoughts of enemies and pain falling away, replaced by thoughts of sunshine and fresh air untainted by the metallic smell of blood and the sweet stench of the dead and dying.

**Review! Please?**


	19. Fugaku's eyes and Itachi Uchiha

**Next chapter: Fugaku's eyes and Itachi Uchiha.**

Late at night, or so Sora judged from the chill of the air and the empty silence, Sora was prodded awake with a very cold finger. As he sat up with an exclamation someone covered his mouth with their hand and shushed him. And a voice hissed in his ear. "Do you want to wake Kairi? Come on, I have someone here to meet you." Sora rolled from the bed, making sure not to jostle Kairi even though he was sure she wouldn't have woken, since she was always exhausted nowadays, both from training and being in a shinobi village that never stopped having some or other trouble that she could take care of. As he put on his shoes he heard Ivy pad toward the door. He walked out the door and Ivy thrust something into his arms, a cloak if he wasn't mistaken, and take his hand as he put it on. The cloak was barely tied down when she jumped, pulling him with her.

Sora allowed Ivy to lead him deep into the woods, until the sound of the village had completely faded away and the animals of the night keened as they went about their nocturnal lives. As they dropped to the ground, for Ivy had led him over the treetops, he let out a muffled groan, his body just as tired as Kairi's. "What is this Ivy? Where are we?" As he straightened up he heard someone approach, until he smelled their perfume. "Who is this?" The voice was soft and smooth, that of a hunting lynx. "He is of no concern." Ivy's voice was cold, controlled and empty of all emotion. And Sora knew why the woman who had joined them was so subdued, she feared what Ivy might do. For without the normal anger or joy Ivy sounded dangerous and wise, as if she had lived for millennia and knew the dark secrets of the World, secrets that were secret for a reason. Sora feared this Ivy, she was too cold, too controlled. An Ivy who was about to kill him with unbridled hate and rage he could handle, for he himself had felt the same rage and hate fuel him, but an Ivy that felt _nothing_ he couldn't handle. "Where is he?" In response the woman led them into the woods, into a cave so cleverly concealed Sora was certain no one would ever find it without being shown where it was. And there she left them, saying she would wait outside. Ivy said she was grateful, followed by a sound of a scroll falling. "There is your payment. Leave this place, if I have need of your service again I shall contact you." As the woman bent to retrieve the scroll Ivy had thrown Sora heard someone move behind him. "Thank you mistress. Fare thee well." With a rustle and the sound of someone stepping in a puddle the woman's perfume left. "Sora, I know you want to know what we're doing here but it is not my right." Sora scowled, true loathing for Ivy threatening to make him insult her. But he wrestled it down and emptied his voice as she herself did. "Then who's right is it?" A sound of cloth sliding over cloth came from behind Sora and he turned, feeling something sharp stick into his neck, followed by a numbness that sapped the strength from his limbs. "Mine." The voice Sora heard was soft, warm and friendly. Before Sora passed out the random thought that he might like the person who'd spoken went through his mind.

Ivy watched as Sora dropped to the ground, the needle's point shining in the dark cave. "You needn't have done that. He is trustworthy." The man chuckled, dragging Sora toward a hollowed section of the cave that seemed to have been gauged from the bare stone. "That's exactly why I did that. Why else would I gift him as I am?" Ivy chuckled as the man turned back around, his crimson eyes bright with emotion. "Thank you for doing this...Itachi." Itachi just blinked slowly, disregarding her gratitude with nary an effort. He knew Ivy never thanked anyone, but he needed no thanks, Ivy knew that. She'd given him his payment, and now he merely held up his part of the bargain. "Who's eyes should I give him? Whoever's eyes I give him will shape what his power will be." This Ivy knew, she had been studying every single scrap of information the Leaf had on the Uchiha and their Kekkei Genkai. And as such she'd already decided who's eyes Sora should have. She had decided on these eyes for two reasons: The man had been the captain of the Konoha military police force and father to two of the most powerful shinobi born in the last two generations. She chose Fugaku Uchiha's eyes, Itachi's father. And the second, more important reason: Itachi would have to transfuse his own blood into Sora's body so as to temper his chakra and make him a blood relative, or so he'd told her. "Your father's." At the momentary flush to Itachi's face Ivy determined Itachi hadn't foreseen that, nor about how much she knew about the Uchiha. "Very well, Fugaku's eyes it is."

Ivy watched as Itachi removed the cloak he wore, revealing a blue v-neck shirt with body mesh underneath, blue pants and a white sash. His forehead, like all accomplished shinobi, had a forehead protector with the Leaf's symbol adorning it. The symbol was marred with a horizontal slash, showing his severed ties with the village. As he lay Sora down in the small alcove he walked back toward the small tent that was hidden in the back of the cave, returning with bandages, gauze, two needles and surgical hose. These he lay below the stone shelf Sora lay on, walked back to the tent and completely by-passed it, and walked through a false rock built over a door. Curious Ivy followed, only to stop when she saw shelf after shelf after shelf stacked with eyes, most having the Sharingan while others showed the dark eyes most Uchiha had. As she watched Itachi walked to the third shelf from the wall and reached up over his head, read a tattered paper stuck with a nail to the shelf and moved to the next, pulling one of the containers down as he read the inscription. When he came back he bid Ivy return to the cave and waited, obviously cautious about Ivy's intent.

Ivy leaned against the wall as Itachi performed a summoning jutsu, bringing forth a machine that looked oddly organic, and stick the end of a needled tube into his arm, his blood moving along the tube as it began to pulse with life. As she watched he did the same with Sora, in addition to throwing a towel over the lower half of Sora's face. As Ivy watched the machine Itachi had summoned spewed multiple large vials out the side, each one filled to the brim with blood. Ivy thought that the vials contained more blood than either Itachi or Sora possessed and she was right, a second later Itachi pulled the needle from his arm and stuck the other needle, the one with the surgical tubing into its place, into Sora's arm, the other still hooked up to the machine. As Itachi settled down next to Sora he motioned Ivy over and pointed at one of the vials. "Bring that here, I will soon be out of blood and I would prefer to have the blood I cloned beside me, to replace the blood I lost." Ivy obeyed, setting the vial beside Itachi, and as she did she noticed that the vials were oddly squishy, as if they were made from skin. Soon Itachi reached for the vial and pulled a needle from the top, unwinding the tube it was attached too as he stuck it into his free arm.

As Ivy leaned against the wall Sora grew paler and paler, only to have his skin grow warm and plump as Itachi's body fed its own lifeblood into Sora's. "How is it that he requires so much blood? You've already given him enough to fill him four times over." With a tired indication with his head Itachi motioned toward the needle still attached to the organic cloning machine. "That drains his body and uses the blood it drained to fuel the cloning process. The more blood it feeds on the more it produces. If he was on the other end his blood would be produced, not mine, and for each drop he gives the machine produces more of my own. Technically speaking, his transformed blood is flowing through my veins from this vial. Speaking of, bring me another one." Ivy did, taking the empty one back to the machine as she did.

It took two more vials until Itachi was satisfied that enough of his Uchiha blood had seeped into the fibres of Sora's body. When he was done he removed the needles stuck into his body and Sora's and ripped them from the machine, saying it would produce new ones if he had further need of it. He used a simple jutsu to dismiss the machine and returned to Sora, his father's eyes next to Sora's head. "When you wake up you'll experience a whole new world." With a glance he dismissed Ivy, telling her to guard the entrance to the cave.

Ivy sat outside the cave as Itachi gave her dear friend his vision back, cringing when she heard the muffled scream of pain Sora gave when he woke. But Itachi must have knocked him unconscious because she heard a muffled thump and the night was still once more. Hour after hour she waited, occasionally hearing both Itachi and Sora murmur from inside. When the sun was but beyond the horizon Itachi appeared, none the worse for wear from the arduous task of transplanting his own father's eyes into a stranger. "Was it successful?" Itachi nodded, his face blank, and motioned toward the hollowed alcove. "I gave him more chakra than I normally would to increase the rate at which the inherent Uchiha chakra flows into him. Unlike Kakashi Hatake he is now an Uchiha in all but name, our blood running through his veins and our eyes giving him sight. And from the fiery nature of his chakra I discovered he is a fire user. Unlike Kakashi, who's eye is permanently activated your young friend's eyes can be controlled, another reason why I gave him my blood." Itachi went back into the cave, into his small tent, which darkened as he blew out the single candle that had illuminated the tent. The cave itself was dark, except for the alcove where Sora lay, which was a blazing beacon on account of the four lanterns and the dozen or so torches.

Ivy watched in silence as Sora woke, the sun setting outside the cave and the interior lit only by a single candle. As he sat up he gently touched his eyes and cheeks, groaning like an old man from the drugs that had worn off directly after the surgery. As he clutched at his head he dry-heaved, but nothing came out, another side-effect of the drugs. But he froze within a second, his entire body stiffening as he caught sight of the candle. "W-what?" His voice was rough, raspy, but Ivy understood him, and so did Itachi, who sat on a rock jutting on the other side of the room. Ivy shot him a glance but he shook his head, indicating she should remain as she was.

Sora squinted through his lashes at the small flame, the light burning his eyes, but he didn't lower his gaze, every scratch on the candle visible to his eyes. The shadows that clung to the candle hid nothing from him, just gave extra texture to the world. "I can see!" He swung his feet over the edge of the bed and clutched at his stomach as his gut clenched painfully. He saw a glass of water beside him and he picked it up gratefully, actually seeing the tiny particles that hung in the clear liquid like they were glowing pinpricks of solid light. He brought the glass to his lips and watched the particles scatter at the tiny motion, almost captivating him, but he was thirsty so he drank deeply. When the glass was empty he gathered his diminished strength and rose to his feet, clutching at a stalagmite to support his weak knees. When his strength returned, oh so slowly, he took a step, and another, and another, until he stood in the mouth of the cave. The green of the forest and the dark soil held his attention for the better part of a minute, then he turned and fixed Ivy in a skull-splitting stare. She squirmed under his glare and smiled sheepishly, her eyes bright with joy. With a sigh Sora sank down on his knees beside her, took her hands in his own and thanked her from the bottom of his heart. When she blushed he turned his new eyes toward the man that sat on the flat rock, his crimson eyes regarding him with curiosity. "Thank you Itachi." If the man looked surprised that Sora knew his name he gave no indication, just inclined his head toward him before he resumed his earlier pose.

Sora approached Itachi, marvelling at the detail his old eyes hadn't seen. "Why can I see more than I did before?" Itachi looked at him with his dark eyes and looked toward the small tent, his eyes darting back toward Sora a second later. "We of the Uchiha have spent a great majority of our time trying to find out all the mysteries our eyes posed, but alas some mysteries remain just that, mysteries. We know how wide a radius our genjutsu can affect a person and we know how best to increase our mastery. The study in transplanting eyes from one Uchiha to another, for you are an Uchiha now, is shrouded in shadow, as only a handful of people have ever had need of a transplant. Few Uchiha would give their eyes to save their lives, even fewer would give their eyes willingly, as such our researchers have been unable to know why a transplanted eye can see things the original owner could not. My eyes can see in even the most clouded night but my brother, who took my eyes from my very corpse, can see in true darkness. My father, who's eyes you now have, could see minute detail that escaped most people, but his vision was very focused, so he could only see a single object, while you, or so I gather from the way you keep your eyes still, can focus with perfect clarity on all the objects that reflect within your line of sight. Is my observation accurate?" Sora nodded, stunned that Itachi could gather so much from just following which way he turned his eyes.

Sora watched as Itachi explained how the Sharingan, which he could now possibly use, worked and how he could use it to his advantage. "Even thought the Sharingan only activates in an extremely stressful situation and heightened emotion it is possible to activate it manually. For example: imagine someone you love dearly in the hands of your most hated foe, torturing them in front of your very eyes as you watch helplessly as he, or she, slowly tortures them to death. Take that one image and let it fill your mind until the terror and rage allows you to do what nature would have you lose someone close to you to gain. Let it fill your mind and let the emotion that claws at your mind burst into the world, let it burn everything into ash and make everyone who ever caused you pain scream in pain and mercy." Sora nodded and closed his mind, imagining someone he loved in the clutches of Ansem. An image of his mother appeared, Ansem branding her with red-hot irons until she begged for death. The pain and terror the image made filled his mind but wasn't strong enough, wasn't enough to make him kill everyone he hated. With a grunt he moved to his next loved one, a brotherly love for Riku, in the clutches of Maleficent, her dark thorns drenched in his blood as they dug into his flesh. The emotion he felt made tears spring to his eyes but he felt neither fear nor anger, he felt regret and self-loathing. For this is an image he imagined often, dreamed of, about what would have happened if he hadn't destroyed Maleficent.

Sora sank down to the ground, the most painful image he could imagine making his blood boil in rage and his heart scream for blood, blood of his foe and blood to extinguish the fire of his hatred. He imagined himself chained to the ground, chains digging into his wrists as he struggled, a band of spiked steel around his neck and an ever-tightening rope of barbed wire around his chest, arms and legs. His body was already drenched in blood from trying to escape the person he would sacrifice the World to save, Kairi chained to a tree, her clothes in tatters as Danny had his way with her, pain and pure, malevolent hate making her face look savage. Her body was already covered in wounds, big and small, the largest being the nails that were driven through her arms into the tree, the serrated edges covered in torn flesh from when Kairi had struggled. Danny was laughing as he defiled her, laughing as she screamed at him, begging for death, laughed as Sora fought the chains and barbed wire that restrained him. Hate the likes of which he'd never felt pumped through his body, numbing his wounds and giving him the strength to do what he must to save Kairi.

Tears poured from his eyes, tears of pain and misery as much as tears of rage and madness. But no matter how much he struggled, no matter how much he mutilated his own body, he could not get his hands around Danny's neck to strangle the life out of his Student. His vision blurred from pain and his flashing red with rage he flung himself at his restraints, feeling his blood pour. From his body, staining the ground red. With a last, futile effort Sora felt the spiked collar around his neck snap, the manacles around his wrists snapping a second later. The wire he tore from his flesh, not even caring that he laid his bones bare to the air around him. But no matter how quickly he escaped his restraints, Danny was faster still. With a last, mad, laugh he impaled Kairi, her arms tearing free of her own restraints as he did. Her hands grasped Danny's much bigger ones, trying to prevent the blade from going any lower. "Now you die Kairi. Die and take his child with you!" With a final, bellowed roar Danny cut Kairi in half, her body falling to the broken stones soaked with her blood. Sora shoved past Danny, not caring that Danny had already raised his arm to lop off his head. Sora pulled what was left of her into his lap as he sobbed, tears dripping onto her face as he cried. His tears still falling Sora sobbed into her chest, already feeling Danny's blood soaked blade erupting from his front, just wanting to die now that Kairi herself was dead. 'My child, my one and only child, dead. Dead like my beloved. Now that she is dead surely I must die as well, I failed her, I don't deserve to live.' Sora closed his eyes as he died, Kairi's scent still detectable through the blood that covered them both.

Sora wrenched open his eyes, feeling tears burn his eyes as he sobbed brokenly. As he got up out of the dirt he hugged his knees, assuring himself that Kairi was still alive and well. He cried until he could cry no more, Ivy's arms cold against his flushed skin as she held him. With a last hiccupping sob he raised his head, at last feeling the slight drain of his strength. He looked down at his hands and realised he could see his chakra, see his chakra flowing through the fibres of his body. He looked up and watched as Itachi approached, his precious unpredictable movements now clear, Sora able to judge what he would do before he did. As Sora read Itachi's lateral lines he stood up, shaking Ivy off, and ran forward, slugging Itachi in the mouth. He marvelled how he see how Itachi would lean to the left, how he would move back a step as he tried to dodge. But Sora's attack was not what he'd been planning on doing, giving him the massive edge to be able to punch Itachi. Most of his blow missed, only the tips of his knuckled rolling over Itachi's cheek. "Bastard." With an overly exaggerated motion Itachi rubbed at his jaw, looking at Sora calmly all the while. "True, but my plan succeeded. You have the Sharingan."

Sora ran into Itachi's cave, picked up the mirror he'd seen beside his head when he'd woken and looked long and deep into his own eyes. His own Sharingan was still undeveloped, a single tomoe in each eye, but the outline of a second was in his left. His pupil was a mere pinprick and the tomoe splashes against the red background, his eyes a deep crimson. With an overly slow motion he blinked, his pupil adjusting instantly. He did as Itachi had told him and pooled his chakra into his eyes, his Kekkei Genkai deactivating for the first time. The tomoe in his eyes spun around and faded, the red of his eyes fading to show blue eyes. The blue was different to what it had been, a midnight blue instead of a sea blue. The outer edges of his retinas were ringed in black, a shining black that advanced toward his pupil, not touching but exceedingly close. He liked his eyes, they reflected what he wanted to be, deep and unbreakable, like the ocean.

Sora set the mirror down and walked back out the cave, night having truly fallen while he'd been admiring his new eyes. But the shadows weren't as dark as they had been to him, instead they simply gave extra shading to his surroundings, only the darkest shadow hiding the object they covered. He turned to his companions and to his surprise he found that Ivy was asleep, nestling in Itachi's arms while he held her. Itachi raised a brow at the grin Sora shot him and made a motion as if to drop Ivy, but he just laid her gently on the ground and stepped over her. "She has not slept." Sora understood, Ivy must have guarded her every second he'd been resting and recovering, watching for those who would cause him harm. "Thank you...again. For giving me my sight back, I am in your debt." And he bowed. Itachi did nothing, just watched him with those intense eyes that Kakashi had warned Sora about. "You owe me nothing. Ivy asked me to give back what was stolen from you and I have. Use your new eyes wisely, Sora." He spoke Sora's name strangely, as if he'd bitten into a lemon, but when Sora looked at him he saw humour burn in his eyes. "You should leave soon, lest Ivy wake up and scold you for wasting time." With a clap on the shoulder Itachi passed Sora and went back into his cave, the entrance vanishing from view.

With a smile of appreciation Sora stooped and gently pulled Ivy into his arms, making sure not to jostle her. Then he turned and faced the forest, blanching at the effort he'd have to put in to keep Ivy from waking. But he jumped lightly, landing on a bough of the closest tree and jumped again, and started to run, gentler and smoother than he'd ever tried running. It took him twice as long as when he'd followed Ivy but he enjoyed the solitude, savouring the quiet and the opportunity to think.

When the village came into view Sora dropped to the ground, landing softly as Ivy was still asleep, and walked on the road leading to the village. When he reached the gate the sentry insisted that Sora show him his forehead protector before he even consider opening the gate. As Sora shoved it to the sentry four Jōnin surrounded him, a fifth crouching beside Kairi. All five of them were dressed for battle, weapons strapped to their backs. When they surrounded him he spoke in a low voice, and advised them to do the same. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Especially a woman sleep deprived who would kill you for talking to her on the best of days." The one woman Jōnin agreed with him while the four men insisted they speak like warriors, not spies in the night. That is, until a tousled looking Tsunade arrived, Kakashi and Sakura at her heels. "What is the meaning of this!" Sora cringed at the volume, seeing Ivy twitch in her sleep and shushed Tsunade with a finger pointed toward Ivy. "Quite, she's asleep. I won't be around if some poor fool wakes her up." Both Kakashi and Sakura seemed to agree, because they both spoke in hushed tones to the Fifth. Tsunade looked at them both and dismissed the five Jōnin who surrounded Sora and Ivy. It was then, and only then, that Sakura shout when she met Sora's stare with one of her own. Neither Tsunade nor Kakashi looked surprised at his eyes but they both shot Sakura disapproving glares, Kakashi blanching as Ivy's one arm moved to push her up. "What's the racket?" Ivy's voice was scratchy, rough, yet it still contained a faint beauty.

Sora shushed Sakura and Kakashi grabbed her from behind with his hand covering her mouth, both looking with wide eyes as Ivy stood up. Sora smiled awkwardly and Kakashi shifted from foot to foot. When Ivy looked at them both she chuckled. "Chill, it looks like you two are expecting me to snap your heads off for waking me." They both looked at her before she laughed, her eyes bright with merriment. "I don't mind being woken up, I rarely need more than an hour or so. So what's new?" Kakashi seemed unfazed at Ivy cheery attitude so he was the first to answer. "We've been looking for you. We were confidant you wouldn't need finding but we were cautious. While you were gone Kairi refused to leave her room without reason but I got that out of her system when I dragged her down the street for some ramen. I even paid for her! I remembered afterward why I never, never, pay for anything if I can help it. Now I'm broke." At this Sakura stared at him. "You haven't paid for anything this past week. You've been sponging off Kairi and Sora when I threw you out of the ramen bar." Kakashi seemed slightly appalled when Sakura said this but he kept his composure, walking away with more dignity than Sora had expected from the older man.

Sora opened the door to his room and Kairi slammed into him, only red hair and wide eyes visible before she knocked him down. "Easy, I'm gonna break." With a choked chuckle Kairi sat up, looking into Sora's face as if to confirm it was him. With a slowness that frustrated him but worked for effect he opened his eyes, Kairi staring into their blue depths before she started sniffing. With a chocked hiccup she hugged him again, her arms choking him more than he wanted to admit. With gentle, yet firm, fingers he pulled her away, looking into her face with his new eyes. He grimaced slightly at what he saw. "You look terrible." And she did. Purple half-moons darkened her eyes like bruises and her lips were chapped and bleeding from her excessive chewing, her cheeks gaunt from the weight she's lost due to her training. When tears welled up in her eyes he took her face in his hands and kissed her on both cheeks before he kissed her forehead, his lips cold against her feverish skin. When he drew away her trembling subsided, and some of the colour had returned to her shallow cheeks, her cheekbones sharp against her thin skin. "Terrible you may look, your still beautiful." And she was, her eyes were bright and huge in the dark shadows of her face, her lips red against her pale skin and her hair fiery as it fell down her face to frame her cheeks.

Sora pulled Kairi into his embrace and held her as she fell asleep, his eyes focused on the strip of sky visible in the window. And there he lay, his love close and his vision restored. Late at night, when the new day had nearly arrived he finally closed his eyes, tired enough to sleep. He dreamt shapeless dreams till dawn, his eyes itching all the while as they healed. Before the morning star faded from the sky Sora's dreams became darker, filled with the blood of all those he'd slain, the fire he'd used to dispatch so many blinding in his mind's eye. And just as always Kairi's light touch woke him enough to cast off the nightmares and sleep without dreaming.

Sora opened his eyes, feeling something sticky try and hold them together as he did. He reached up with his knuckled and rubbed them against them, the same stickiness scratching his skin. When he looked at his knuckles he saw that they were covered in dry blood, reminding him once more that he should rest his eyes if he could. But deep in his heart he knew he would use them as he saw fit, ignoring both Itachi and Ivy's warning. He raised his eyes and found Kairi, her eyes heavy upon his body. Slowly, lingering on the scars that lined his skin, she reached his eyes. She held his gaze before sliding closer in her bed designed for a single person and stroked his face, her fingers lingering on his lips and the hollows of his eyes. He closed his eyes at the contact and pulled her even closer, until her lips brushed against his own, the first kiss they'd shared since they'd graduated. Kairi leaned into him and he drew her even closer, his hand snaking down to pull her thigh to him, her arms encircling his shoulders.

Sora kissed Kairi, her mouth soft yet unyielding against his own, and stroked her back, her skin cool against his heated flesh. As she drew away he opened his eyes, staring at her with an intensity he'd never use if it wasn't her, his eyes heavy on her eyes and her lips, her shadowed brow and her soft skin. As he wound his fingers through her hair she felt her tug at his own, reminding him once more that it was too long. He shrugged and pushed himself up on his elbows, her arms moving over his own as her fingers entrapped his. She lipped his cheek and he chuckled, his own mouth working on her jaw. As she leaned her head back he moved forward until she was below him, her hands around his elbows and her legs tangled in their joined blanket. He kissed her neck and revelled in the smooth texture, his eyes raking over her with all the same intense stare. He was busy kissing the hollow of her throat when the door banged open, Sakura striding in.

Both Sora and Kairi froze, their eyes moving as one toward the girl in Kairi's room. "Kairi we need to talk..." As Sakura's eyes adjusted to the dim light streaming in through the shaded window a blush spread over her face, and the more she saw the redder she became. And from behind her Ino stormed in as well, her voice low in the early morning. "...we don't even know if she's here..." As Ino's eyes inevitably raked the room her own face flushed as she grinned. "Are we interrupting?" Sora sighed as Kairi's body started moving again, drawing the blanket up to cover her bare form. Kairi's blush was just as bad as Sakura's but her grin was wider than Ino's. But when she tried speaking she stuttered, something she hadn't done since she was six. So Sora overrode her feeble comments with his own teenage stupidity. "Depends. Wanna join us?" The very air seemed to freeze as the three girls stared at him, his tousled hair, his heavy eyes, his lips red from kissing.

Kairi didn't want to do what she did but her own shaky confidence made her act. Sora's face turned toward her as she shifted, and the sound of flesh striking flesh made both Ino and Sakura flinch, Sora's head rocking back from the slap. Kairi immediately regretted it as Sora turned back toward her with a smile, his lower lip split but otherwise unharmed. She knew he could tolerate more pain than most people, evident in his fighting for his life for the better part of three years and protecting her from bullies two or even three times his size when he was younger. She also knew that he would never react if she hurt him, either in words or physical abuse, but the pure innocence and kind forgiveness that shone in his eyes made her angry with herself every single time she disappointed him.

As such her heart rebelled against her, tears stung her eyes as she watched Ino and Sakura rush forward to comfort him. She remained silent as they fussed over him, dabbed at his split lip with a handkerchief as they clucked their tongues in sympathy. "I'm sorry." As Sora's eyes found her own Kairi looked down, her lips puckering into a pout as her chin touched her sternum. She wrung her hands but stopped when a soft hand made her look up, Sora's own eyes bright as he looked at her. And like every time he'd looked at her with his brighter than usual eyes a small smile graced her lips, her own hand reaching up to touch his bloody lip. But unlike when they'd been kids and her problems had gotten him beaten his lip was healed, only the redness on his lips from the blood showing that he'd bled at all. Behind Sora both Ino and Sakura looked on, their eyes wide but their expressions warm and approving. With a barely discernable nod Ino nodded toward her and Kairi smiled another small smile, her fingers brushing over Sora's lip as she wiped his blood away.

Sora hissed with frustration, his eyes wide as he stared into Kakashi's Sharingan with his own, underdeveloped eyes. Theirs was a fight of speed and logic, Sora grappling with Kakashi as Kakashi tore his mind apart one piece at a time. As Sora sank down on his knees he did what Kakashi did, he closed one eye and focused all his power into his right eye, easily countering Kakashi as the older man frowned in confusion. With a groan Sora sank down, clutching at his eye as Kakashi overwhelmed his defence and made him experience what it felt to have his eyes ripped from their sockets anew. "Better, but still pathetic." Sora looked up, both eyes once more staring into Kakashi's one and struck out with all the force he could, the genjutsu duel they were competing in making them both weak from mental and physical strain. Their first duel had taken a mere second, Kakashi making Sora claw at his head as a burning split his skull in half. That had been two days ago, and now, three days from the Chūnin exams Kakashi had put all his missions on hold to temper his control over his Sharingan.

Kakashi was a bitter and cruel teacher, and that was why Sora's Sharingan eyes had developed farther than Kakashi had seen a real Uchiha's develop. The first time he'd used his Sharingan he'd had one tomoe in each eye, the outline of a second in his left, but now he had two tomoe in his left and a second tomoe almost complete in his right. The further along his Sharingan developed the more chakra it drained from him, but the stronger his gaze became. He could now easily read taijutsu and genjutsu while he could view ninjutsu with a moderate perception of what jutsu was used and what nature the jutsu was. Even though Sora had developed faster than everyone, Ivy included, had expected Sora was still disappointed in his progress, but he knew better than to force himself farther than he knew he could. Still, he couldn't help but force ever increasing amounts of chakra to his eyes, far more than even the most taxing jutsu took from him, in an attempt to force his Sharingan to develop faster. On more than one occasion he'd collapsed, Sakura had been forced to heal him thrice because he would have died if she hadn't, and Kakashi had made him swear to take a break when he could. With a grunt Sora stood back up, his body shaking from exhaustion, and gave Kakashi a stare that told the older man how strong his conviction was to become stronger than he could ever dream of becoming.

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	20. Sharingan

**Next chapter: Sharingan.**

On three separate occasions Tsunade had come to the training field to check on his progress, and on three separate occasions she'd complimented on his progress. Sora had thanked her for the compliment but when he'd asked her to test him she refused, saying that he was not yet strong or wise enough to ask her to judge him. "Become stronger, and maybe, after you become Jōnin, I might allow myself the pleasure of fighting you." The last time she'd inspected his progress she'd blanched when he'd turned his eyes toward her, saying that his eyes were like those of Sasuke, which both pleased and troubled him. From what he knew of Sasuke he had begun to fear and respect the boy his age, yet he shared the anger all the shinobi had of him. Sasuke had betrayed his village and killed his brother, killed his teacher Orochimaru, a shinobi who had caused the death of the Third and who had nearly killed Tsunade, ridding the world of two shinobi who had been a threat to the Leaf and yet had become more dangerous than the two of them combined. Where Itachi and Orochimaru had merely wanted to destroy the Leaf Sasuke wanted to cause them the pain they'd caused him, to have them feel the hatred of the Uchiha firsthand, to devastate and destroy all those who'd forced his brother to eliminate the Uchiha. And he was succeeding; the entire shinobi world feared Sasuke, not just because he could cause them an infinite amount of trouble, but because of what he could become. He was, with all the power the position of being a Uchiha gave him, an avenger.

Sora could understand why the shinobi of the Leaf would fear him, they neither knew him nor understood him, but he didn't understand why they kept giving him advice in training when he was struggling with some new jutsu or why they encouraged him to keep trying when Kakashi left him to recover between their intense genjutsu duels. So naturally he started helping them when he could, helping with mission or assisting someone who could benefit from his help. So he had a moderate knowledge about how most of the Jōnin and Chūnin looked like. When shinobi started pouring in who he had never seen yet seemed to know where everything was and who everyone was he was concerned, especially when he saw that they were from all the different shinobi Nations. As more and more shinobi flooded into the Leaf Sora became more and more concerned, until, he finally asked Sakura when she was helping him with his shuriken. "They are the Genin who have come for the test and those who wish to see what potential shinobi from villages beside their own possess. Shinobi fight for their villages but we are, at heart, mere mercenaries. That's how we make a living, working for others in any way we can. Shinobi are more than just warriors training for war, we're bodyguards and guides. Few of us would willingly admit but we would soon become poor and weak without the money we make from giving ourselves to the lords and ladies who seek a service of us. Some jobs are easy, finding a thief or returning a lost dog to its owner, while others are more difficult, guarding a rich merchant from bandits or other shinobi hired from other villages to kill the merchant we protect." Sakura shrugged, as if being a mercenary meant little to her. "Just imagine what they would pay to have either you or Kairi work for them. A pretty boy with the Sharingan and a gorgeous girl with an honest smile. Then there's Ivy, I can't imagine what a rich lord would pay to have her become his very personal guardian." She chuckled, as if the idea of some old man giving Ivy orders was immensely amusing. And so it was, Ivy would never swallow her pride and call some rich bastard sir while she's pouring him a drink or entertaining him with her skill with weapons or giving him a meal which she prepared.

Sora let his head fall back as he laughed, the image of Ivy cooking as an old man stared at her with wide eyes and blood spewing from his nostrils. "Yeah. She'd probably dump the food he had her cook for him over his head. That or she's tie him to a bed and make him call her mistress." Sora grinned, Sakura laughing with him. But they both stopped when they heard someone approach. Sora let his Sharingan fade away, not willing to have someone know that secret. Most of the Leaf knew that he had the Sharingan but he doubted Tsunade had informed the other villages that she had another pet Sharingan user at her disposal. And it was a good thing he did, a boy with sandy hair stumbled in on them with the Hidden Sand's forehead protector glinting merrily in the sunlight. The boy apologised for interrupting them and Sakura happily accepted and gave him the directions he wanted. S the boy left Sora couldn't help but notice the way the boy's shoulders were rigid with arrogance and his stride heavy with overconfidence. As he watched him go Sora made sure to remember his face, as he did with all the shinobi who came from the other villages. He left Sakura soon after, saying he needed to take care of something.

Sora jumped, landing on the treetops just outside the training grounds, making sure that no one was nearby, started to run. Before long he reached the clearing in the forest, Itachi sitting with his eyes closed on a fallen tree. "Itachi." Sora made sure to keep his voice smooth, respectful but not obedient, going to stand beside Itachi. "So you return. Why?" Itachi's voice was equally empty, except for the slight warmth he'd used the last time he'd addressed Sora. "The Chūnin exams are in two days." Itachi nodded, not looking surprised. "And? What do you expect me to do about it?" Sora looked into Itachi's eyes and activated his Sharingan, showing Itachi how far he had come. "I see more than any in the Leaf, Kakashi included, but my gaze is still weak. I have read that you can place someone under genjutsu before they can even begin to attack. I have need of a true successor. Kakashi is powerful, but you are the strongest. Even your brother can't beat you in a genjutsu duel." If Itachi was pleased with Sora's praise he hid it well, his eyes dark as he regarded him. "That was true, but no more. I no longer claim to be stronger than my brother, for my strength is now his own. But I can teach you. But not like Kakashi, by breaking your mind again and again. That is most effective but it takes time, so I will make as the masters of old were wont to do." Itachi rose from the tree and bid Sora give him a kunai. When Sora gave Itachi a kunai he had imbued with his own chakra Itachi chuckled in amusement but cut his palm open nonetheless.

Sora watched as Itachi dabbed his right hand in his own blood and lift his hand, performing seals Sora could neither see nor understand. Itachi bathed Sora's forehead with blood and Sora felt blood flow into his eyes, as well as a burning that made him clutch at his head. His deed done Itachi dropped Sora's kunai and sat back down on the log, watching him with unblinking intensity. Although his eyes burned Sora looked into Itachi's eyes, seeing the young man stare at him just as surely he stared at Itachi. "I have given you what I can without just gifting you with power you would never understand. Go, and return once the Chūnin exams are complete, I would like to see how far you have advanced since now." Sora thanked Itachi and jumped upward, so puzzled about what Itachi had done he forgot to deactivate his Sharingan, so he watched every movement he could make with unparalleled detail. Before long, faster than before because he could see the path with the least hindrance Sora landed inside the village, just beyond the fringe of trees. Sora started walking, the sun setting, and started toward the Academy. The day was done but his was far from over, and thus it was, Iruka bid him welcome and Sora went to the study hall, old scrolls barely legible with age under his arms as he went about his study of jutsu and shinobi history.

Sora had always been cautious, even though he could sometimes act rashly when it came to his friends, so when he had graduated from the Academy he had gone to Iruka and begged him to let Sora read the scrolls he had hidden away from the students, scrolls so laden with power and forbidden techniques Sora had been quite surprised that Iruka had even given them to him. So, after the sun had set and Kairi was with her friends, his friends also, he studied. And every night he learned new things about the shinobi, sometimes something small like why the Leaf had the symbol it had and sometimes something large enough to war over. How the First Hokage had fought Uchiha Madara and later forming the Leaf from the various clans.

Sora stood in front of the building where the first phase of the Chūnin exams would commence, Kairi and Ivy at his side. He smiled at them both, aware that he was pale with anticipation and exhilaration at finally being tested. Kairi seemed brighter than usual, her clothes for once solid black in preparation. Sora had solid black on as well, except for one bright spark of colour. He wore a crimson ribbon around his left arm, just as Ivy and Kairi wore red ribbons around their left arms. Ivy too wore black, but it was her usual colour so Sora hadn't really expected her to look any different. Both Kairi and Ivy were grinning in excitement, small grins that barely tugged at the corners of their lips but present nonetheless.

With a deep breath Sora took a step forward, Kairi and Ivy doing the same. Before long they were in the elevator. At first Sora had been surprised at the amount of technology this world had but he had quickly dismissed it as unimportant. Why should he be surprised by electricity if he could create a roiling inferno of flames with the energy in his body and the knowledge of jutsu? Before long the elevator chimed with the cheery ring most elevators gave and the doors slid open. Sora poked his head out and frowned but stepped out, seeing the black '3' on the wall as they advanced down the hall. In front of the doors marked 'Chūnin Exams' stood three shinobi recognised from the previous day, shinobi from the hidden Rock village. They were arguing with two teens who stood in front of the doors, and from the anger in the shinobi's voices he was certain violence was a mere insult away. So being the friendly guy he was he walked over with a smile on his face and his blue eyes wide in mock innocence. "Hey guys, what seems to be the problem?" The two shinobi in front of the doors, both from the Leaf and oddly familiar turned toward him and seemed heartened to see their own kind of shinobi back them up if need be. "This door is locked and these three," here the one with long black hair and a small scar on his cheek sneered. "_shinobi_ insist on breaking it down. Why we don't know but they are like stone, they keep leaning on us to move but we don't want to get in trouble for breaking down the door." Sora nodded, seeing what the problem was. Many Shinobi wars had started with a simple spat between two shinobi from differing villages. A spat about possessions and tradition. And now the Rock shinobi wanted to break down the heavy oaken door inside of a Leaf stronghold. He could see why the two Leaf ninjas were more than slightly appalled about them breaking down the door merely to sate their curiosity.

The other Leaf shinobi, a tall, thin fellow with the air of one who fought with speed and momentum, snorted softly. One of the Rock ninja, arms as thick as tree trunks even though he couldn't be much older than Sora narrowed his eyes. "The door says 'Chūnin Exams' you fool. We just want to get inside so we can start this lengthy test." He cast his eyes toward Sora, ignoring both Ivy and Kairi as if they didn't exist. "Do you agree?" Sora wasn't sure, for he neither knew what the Stone ninja was talking about and he honestly didn't care. He was spared the decision when Ivy strode forward, her face stiff with annoyance. "Step aside." With her voice soft and sweet Sora couldn't hear a trace of annoyance but he heard the rage she had so recently given up, making him think that she too didn't care about the fight the Leaf shinobi in front of them wanted to cause merely because they had home field advantage. With a motion betraying her strength she pushed both Leaf shinobi aside and laid her hand upon the door, as if she wanted to push it open with a gentle nudge. The Stone shinobi seemed taken aback when she spoke and Sora assumed that they had classified Ivy as weak, harmless and worthless.

"Ivy...gently." Sora knew what Ivy was about to do, and he sincerely hoped she listened to him, for if someone else was on the other side of the door she's crush them. She shot him a teasing smile and puckered her lips in a playful smile before she put her left hand on her hip and leaned on the arm still held against the door. The five shinobi who had stood in front of the door cringed back when the heavy oaken door started to split down the middle. Ivy pushed the wood just hard enough to crack the heavy grain before she drew back her hand, not even a hands-breadth away, and shoved her palm into the door, the oaken door screeching in protest as its hinges snapped and the door blew off its hinges and settled against the far wall with a stone shattering screech.

Her work done Ivy drew the hand she'd used to break down the door to her face and rubbed the few splinters the oak had driven into her hand away, the skin not marked in the slightest. Sora walked past her and grinned at the five gaping shinobi, pulling Kairi with him as he took her hand. Ivy followed a second later, still examining her hand. The first thing she did when she stepped past Sora was to walk over to the door and lift it up with a single hand, examining it with a curiosity Sora found fascinating. With a half murmured word from Ivy the oaken door shivered and regained its earlier shape and form, the splinters she held in her hand settling into the cracks they occupied. The door restored to its previous splendour Ivy walked back to the door and made an impatient sound in the back of her throat as she saw the five shinobi still outside. With whispered apologies they stepped inside and Ivy swung the door into place, the metal hinges flowing like liquid as the oak settled into place. "There, all better." Her deeds corrected Ivy went back to Sora and Ivy before finally sweeping her eyes over the rooms occupants. Less than a second later she wished she'd held her head down, because dozens of not hundreds of Genin stood staring at her, a few Chūnin and Jōnin amongst them to ensure order was maintained.

Sora cleared his throat and the stares moved from Ivy to himself and he grinned, brighter and wider than he would normally. "Okay! Now we know who not to annoy! Now, mind your own business!" With a dry chuckled Sora walked through the throng of differing shinobi with Kairi's hand still held in his own. Most of the shinobi moved away as he passed but a few persisted, and a few of the bolder ones even started flirting with Kairi. The flirting Sora didn't mind, he knew Kairi was hotter than most girls and thus would attract interested boys and aggravated girls. He smiled and kept his eyes lowered as he waded through the shinobi and hoped the display of strength Ivy had shown would prevent any of the shinobi from messing with them.

Sora's hopes of keeping to himself died when seven shinobi from the Hidden Cloud stepped in front of him, the arrogance they were renowned for plain on their faces. They were all taller than him, another trait most shinobi from the Hidden Cloud had in common, and thus he had to look up, something that made him feel like a child. He hated feeling like a child, and he hated it even more if someone treated him like a child. And treating him like a child is what the Cloud ninja did, feeling that their numbers gave them an advantage. Out of the corner of his eye Sora saw some shinobi from the Leaf move toward his defence but he just shook his head and they stopped, uncertainty on their faces. Sora turned and wrapped one arm around Kairi's shoulder and kissed her on the side of her head before he pushed her toward the Leaf shinobi, a warm smile giving her reason not to stop. And the Cloud ninja taunted him all the while, their continually heightening soon having the attention of everyone in the room, even the Jōnin who seemed resigned to ignore the Genin.

Sora looked up, his eyes sweeping from one Cloud shinobi to the other, a small smile making them use fouler, more creative insults. But like always he let them torment him, not caring in the slightest when they started throwing mock punches to see if he would flinch. And like always when someone could see that Sora loved Kairi with all his heart and soul they started insulting Kairi. The first insult he let slip, the second and third made him lose his smile and the fifth made him grimace as a red haze descended on his vision, informing him his rage was at the brink. And like usually happened when his rage was at its brink his chakra turned darker, fouler, colder than any shinobi's chakra ought too. Out of the corner of his darkened vision he saw one of the Jōnin, a shinobi with a bowl haircut and green tights that covered his form with orange leg warmers complete the outfit, start toward them. But most of the shinobi, including all the Cloud shinobi, seemed oblivious to the raging inferno contained within Sora. He had learned to control his temper, almost always able to suppress the urge to lash out, but his control was not yet perfect. "Any girl who digs a pretty boy like you is nothing more tha..." At that Sora's temper finally burst, his full power raging into the world.

With an explosion of speed he could use but rarely Sora appeared behind the lead Cloud ninja and kicked his legs out from under him and wrapped his hands around his neck, ready to rip the boy's head of and use his spine as a whip against the other Cloud shinobi when someone dragged him off and threw him the length of the room, finally bringing himself to a stop when he slammed into the wall, his feet underneath him and his hand pressed against the wall for balance. He threw his head back and immediately found the person who'd thrown him, it was Ivy. Aware that he'd nearly killed seven innocents he drove his legs downward into the wall and propelled himself forward until he slid to a stop in front of Ivy. "Thanks, Ivy. If you hadn't..." But he couldn't continue, Ivy just stared at him in understanding and gripped the youth Sora had nearly killed around the neck and dragged him toward Sora, his face a mask of terror as he lashed out at Ivy with minimal effort. "You better say you're sorry before I rip your head off you worthless rat. And unlike Sora I would make it...slow...and...painful." The threat was almost visible in the air as Ivy dropped the youth, his knees striking the ground as he hung his head. With a kick to his gut Ivy forced the youth's head backward, his eyes locking with Sora's immediately.

Sora stared into the boy's eyes and watched as a great assortment of emotions passed over the youth's face, fear and rage chief among them. "I-I'm sorry." His voice was muffled by his lips as he mumbled, and Sora leaned down and grabbed him by the front of his robe, lifting him up with no effort. "I can't hear you." Sora's tone was mocking but soft, so the threat contained within seemed kinder than it was. "I'm sorry!" The boy shouted and Sora let him drop with a sound of disgust, walking toward Kairi without looking back. Without fail all the shinobi scattered before him, save the Jōnin who'd rushed forward when Sora's chakra had peaked. Him Sora looked at, and he looked at Sora with unbridled curiosity. As he passed Sora could swear he heard the man mutter "Kakashi taught you well."

Sora sat down at the desk he'd been assigned and looked back toward Kairi and Ivy, the two of them separated by one row and two seats. Sora however was almost in the very front row, his eyes heavy as he swept them over the faces of the Genin he would soon fight and overcome. But before he could do that he needed to pass the written test, pain though it was. As the Chūnin passed out the test sheets Sora swept his eyes over their faces, looking for the one with the least amount of experience. At last he found one, a woman with black hair atop her head with the eyes of the Hyuuga sitting in a chair to his right, away from the sun and the examiner. He had searched the right hand side specifically for the reason that it would help conceal his Sharingan if he had need of it.

He listened intently as the instructor, a scarred brute with leather robes over his entire body, and smiled as he heard the instruction. He knew that Ivy had heard the flaw in the speech as well. Their points would be taken _if_ they were caught cheating, not if they got away with cheating. He also knew that she would have little difficulty in cheating, her eyes ensured that but he didn't know about Kairi, he didn't know her as a sneak or a thief. He guessed if it came down to it Kairi would just touch his mind with her own if she needed help.

The scarred examiner commenced the first Chūnin test and all around Sora sound of pencils scratching against paper was heard. Curious he cast a glance down toward his own test, chuckling silently when he saw the overly complex questions. 'Sheesh, why don't they just ask for the jutsu of immortality, that at least I could fake. This though, I can't fake something I don't know anything about.' A whisper interrupted his train of though and he glanced to the side, seeing the Mist shinobi beside him start over with the concealed set of seals he was using, a small puddle of water floating on top of his test paper as a flash of images shone in the water. With a satisfied smirk the shinobi wrote down what he'd seen through the puddle and moved on to the next question. To his dismay Sora saw that most of the shinobi in his row had already finished one or two questions while one girl was busy on the seventh. 'What are they, part machine?' With a shrug Sora set down his pencil and slowly drooped his eyes to help conceal what he was about to do. 'Sharingan!' Sora waited as his Sharingan manifested and cast his eyes toward the Hyuuga woman he'd seen before, her face focused as she ran her eyes over the different Genin in front of her. 'Good, she's distracted.' Sora thrust the genjutsu Kakashi had taught him earlier and had the woman activate her Byakugan. Thick veins appeared around her eyes as her pupil became pronounced and she cast her eyes outward, Sora seeing what she saw with difficulty. As the woman ran her eyes over Kairi and Ivy he had her stop her roaming and focus on them, Ivy was already done, carving something out of her pencil with a kunai, smiling up as if she felt Sora's watching stare. Kairi too was almost finished, her answers the same as Ivy's. Content that they would pass Sora let his eyes roam toward the examiners desk, where the answer sheets lay suspiciously open. As the woman's eyes focused on the papers she started screaming in pain, Sora's hold on her breaking as easily as a thin shard of glass.

Everyone, Sora included, was so focused on the task at hand that the woman's piercing screams made them all jump, Sora using the opportunity to open his eyes to their full extent and read the answers to the questions that lay on the desk. Surprisingly Sora wasn't affected like the woman, for he wasn't really cheating, not in the proper sense of the word anyway. He was on his feet, openly staring at the answers, and the jutsu cast around the answer sheets obviously only broke those who _spied_ on the answers. Then Sora was finished with his reading, his Sharingan allowing him to read and remember the words written with perfect understanding and clarity. As the woman was carted away toward a padded cell, maybe, Sora wrote down what he'd read and settled back in his seat with a certain accomplished feel. He'd done it, he had spied the un-spy able without anyone being the wiser about what he'd done. Sure, the woman might be going clinically insane but that was the examiners fault for placing such dangerous warding around the answer sheets.

When the time was done the examiner asked the Genin to put down their pencils and listen up. Sora laid down his pencil and looked back toward Ivy, seeing the carved flower with flowing blossoms and winding stem disappear as she mournfully put it down. Sora turned back toward the examiner and waited in silence as he explained the final task he had for them. 'I only have to decide if I want to take the final question? And if my answer is wrong I can't ever become Chūnin. It's a risk but a calculated risk. I'm taking the final question.' As Sora waited for the final question four shinobi stood up and followed the Chūnin from the room, their team mates following behind. As the door swung shut the scarred shinobi cracked a smile and congratulated everyone on passing the final question. "Sure, this is the second time I resort to this method but it is still as successful as always." The scarred shinobi shrugged his massive shoulders and sat down behind the desk, sitting in silence as a woman strode in with a very flattering jacket and mesh shirt on. "At least you didn't break the window again. What's wrong Anko? Not feeling the need for the normal flare this year?" Anko, the woman, grinned mischievously at the scarred veteran. "No, I've been too busy setting up The Forest to play around."

Sora followed after Anko and tried finding out all the different places she could take them too. When they reached a place with a board saying 'Practice Area #44' he cracked a smile. He'd heard about The Forest of Death, had been training to avoid some of the poisonous plants and animals within. Anko strode until she was in front of the fence and turned around, her hands on her hips as she faced the assembled Genin. "Welcome to the Area #44. One of the nastiest places you will ever enter willingly, for the second phase of the Chūnin exam takes place within. I warn you beforehand, this forest is the home of some of the most dangerous creatures known to man and contains some of the largest crops of poisonous plants. If you choose to enter you will be given a form of consent so none but yourself is responsible for any deaths." Most everyone shifted uncomfortably at this but a few of the Genin looked excited, Ivy in particular looked almost perfectly calm and happy.

Sora watched in silence as a green object passed behind the fence of the Training grounds, something scaly and thicker around than some of the trees around him. But the other Genin seemed too focused on signing their forms of consent to see the beast, Anko looked over her shoulder but other than that she gave no indication that anything had been there. To Sora's surprise Ivy stepped around Anko and whistled, a thin, high-pitched, musical whistle. Everyone stopped what they were doing as she did it again, Anko seemed perplexed but willing to let her continue. With a rustle and a low hiss all the Genin and Anko looked toward the fence, a glowing green eye shining brightly from the shadows the trees cast. With an explosion of speed and sound the trees above the eye rustled before a flash of green and gold shot over the fence. Anko jumped to the side but Ivy stood where she was, looking at the golden-green blur calmly. Before the blur could slam into her however, it stopped, showing a serpent with green and golden scales with glowing green eyes. Even though it was over ten feet Sora could see that it still had some growing to do, its head out of proportion to its body. A bony crest was above each eye and a ridge ran from the top of its head to the tip of its mouth, its nostrils small pits. A tongue slithered out of its mouth as it regarded Ivy, its eyes focused on her in intense focus. "Raziel." Ivy spoke softly, as if she was crooning to a small child. The snake's mouth opened slightly and it breathed on her before it flicked its tongue over her cheek in a playful gesture.

With a single step Ivy stood in front of the great serpent, Raziel, and he started winding his body around her in a protective embrace, his scales scraping against each other with a dry rustle. With a single movement Ivy settled against Raziel, her one hand touching the crest over its right eye, her other stroking the serpents great neck. She looked lazily toward the Genin who still stood in front of the Training ground and shrugged one shoulder, dismissing the wide eyed stares they directed toward her. Anko seemed pleasantly surprised but Ivy didn't know her well enough to be sure, Sora looking at her with an amused expression. At her touch Raziel slithered forward until he was beside Anko, who laid her hand against his jaw, scratching at the small scales decorating his golden jaw. His belly was a creamy colour while he had thin green marks decorating his back, a golden crown shining on top of his head and over his eyes. Anko continued her explanation of The Forest of Death but from the wide-eyes stares the Genin shot Raziel Ivy was certain they would double their attentiveness in the forest.

Sora watched as Raziel kept winding and unwinding his body, Ivy still scratching a small indention at the base of his skull, which looked oddly like a saddle to Sora. But he shrugged and signed his name at the bottom of the paper Anko had handed out. He gave his consent form back to Anko and watched as team after team stepped into the tent where they would receive either an Earth or a Heaven scroll. When it was their turn Sora walked forward and his two companions and Ivy's pet joined him, Raziel hissing outside the small pavilion. Sora took the scroll from the Chūnin and handed it to Kairi, thinking that she would be the one people would least likely attack for the scroll. Kairi was the shield of their team while Ivy was the spear and Sora the longsword.

Sora walked back into the warm sunlight and Anko pointed them toward one of the many entrances to the forest, Raziel slinking into the forest at Ivy's insistence. When the time came to proceed into the forest Sora heard the teams around him start running, covering as much distance as they possibly could. He too wanted to dash into the forest to find a defendable position but Ivy had forewarned him and Kairi not to, to instead do the suicidal and remain by the gate as they devised a plan. Ivy led them into a small clearing with a single oak in the centre and went to stand under its protective boughs, Raziel slinking toward them from the shadows to curl into a constantly coiling ball of living string.

At Ivy's command Sora activated his Sharingan, casting his eyes outward, alert to any disturbance in the brush. Kairi too was preparing for an impending attack, she had cast multiple jutsu into the water within the earth to spring up and restrain any shinobi foolish enough to come close to the clearing they occupied. As they did this Ivy had laid her palm against the ancient oak's rough bark and closed her eyes, sifting through the oak's multitude of roots and those they touched and touching the roots of trees they touched. In this manner, or so she had informed Sora, she could sense anyone touching any plant or root that was in contact with the oak, which would mean almost the entirety of the forest. She could even feel the water plants and the pollen and scattered seeds flowers and trees had expelled. So within ten minutes she had drawn a map of the general position and direction of travel from most of the shinobi, a few escaping her reach.

Before long they were travelling again, toward the nearest cluster of shinobi, to find out what kind of danger they would face. With some help from Raziel, for he knew of a series of caves and caverns the giant moles and shinobi had dug they quickly reached the nearest group without even rustling a leaf.

Sora crept forward and brushed his hands on the root in front of him, using it like a ladder to climb toward the surface. When he reached the surface he parted the brush that obscured his view and held his breath, seeing two groups of shinobi cross each other's path in front of him. Beside him Kairi parted the brush farther and watched with him, seeing the two groups stand and stare at each other when they finally found themselves face to face. Sora didn't recognise the shinobi, for one group was from the Hidden Sand and the other from the Hidden Mist. Sora knew that the Sand was at a disadvantage, for they used earth and wind jutsu while the Mist used water and wind. Strategically speaking the Sand was at a disadvantage but they seemed confidant and strong, while the Mist acted like they usually did, cautiously and hesitantly. The two groups spoke but Sora couldn't hear them, the sound of the forest deafening in his ears and the sheer distance stopping him from hearing. But a few words later the two groups seemed to come to an agreement and parted without violence. Sora breathed a sigh and climbed out of the hole, for that was pretty much what he was hiding in, and straightened up, helping Kairi to her feet as Ivy jumped from below with Raziel following a second later.

Sora looked to the side and almost smiled when he saw that Raziel was lapping at Ivy's face like a puppy, her fingers scratching the corners of his jaws. "Where did you find him?" Ivy looked at him and shrugged. "I found him close to death, his gut split open and a spear shoved through both jaws and tied down with razor wire so he couldn't escape. They had even tied his jaws shut with barbed wire. I cut him loose and was about to put him out of his misery when his mind brushed against my own. It is not uncommon for a snake or some other giant hunter to use the power of its mind to subdue or even kill with their minds, on account on the disadvantage they would have against smaller, nimbler prey. But his mind was so filled with fear, acceptance of death, with a will to live stronger than any keyblade wielder's. But he had just rarely came of age, he is barely old enough to be out of his nest, so instead of speeding what nature would do I took him to a tree I had found deep in the forest, a tree unlike any other. It had tremendous healing sap while its bark was stronger than steel. I took a root from the tree, with the tree's permission of course, and took its genetic structure and implanted it inside Raziel along with a few other choice plants. I healed his wounds and I left him where I had found him, knowing that he would survive. When I awoke the next morning I found him at the foot of my bed, his black eyes having turned green and his brown scales attaining the colour of the tree whose genetic power I had given him. Since then he has accompanied me, either in mind or body."

Ivy saw the look on Raziel's scaly face when she'd found him, gentle yet hard with hatred. The gentleness had made her heal him and the hatred had made her gift him with the tree of Life's root. Since then she had branded herself with a summoning brand on her left forearm, which she covered with either elbow length gloves or armbands on account of the familiar structure the jutsu had on the summoning Orochimaru had had with Manda, his own great serpent. She had also graced Raziel with some of the techniques Uriel had taught her, techniques of finding and binding. With these skills Raziel could change his size as he saw fit, except that he couldn't make himself bigger than he truly was because he really wasn't turning back time but compressing his body's cells into ever smaller shapes. With another skill Raziel could change the matter he was made of, like changing his flesh into stone or metal. But this skill too relied on his real flesh and blood. He could only change his body into a matter he knew and understood, and even then he had to make himself into a matter that was the same density than he could be.

Sora watched as Ivy's eyes turned cloudy and he roused her with a quick word. "So he is now my familiar. And I will keep him." With a dry rustle Raziel rubbed his head against Sora, as if to let the boy know to trust him. Hesitantly, for Sora had never been all that fond of snakes, he touched Raziel's head. His scales were smooth and sharp but rugged and blunt as well. With a small smile Sora felt a small liking for the snake stir within him.

Later that night, closer to midnight than dusk Sora sat at the edge of the camp, his turn to protect the camp while the others slept. He alternated between focusing his Sharingan on the brush at the base of the vast clump of trees that acted as their camp and into the distance, where a flashing of lights and sounds of metal clashing reached his ears, the evidence of a fight. The first thing Sora had noticed when he'd started his shift is that the shinobi had started their attacks when the night was still young, not even an hour after sunset. So far no shinobi had found them on account of the map Ivy had drawn but Sora knew it was only a matter of time before chaos erupted around him. A rustling below made him look down, seeing Raziel launch himself toward a goat that was feeding on vegetation not ten feet from their camp. Curious, Sora focused on how Raziel hunted. Instead of barrelling into the goat like Sora had expected Raziel had sank his teeth into the goat's side before slinking back into the shadows, waiting until the goat succumbed to Raziel's venom. As Sora had found out not soon after a bear had attacked them Raziel had fangs that injected venom as well as serrated teeth like constrictors. "He has venom but he is one of the rare species of snakes that can hunt with venom or tooth and muscle. As far as I know there are very few of them in Konoha, they are far more common farther north of here, north-east to be precise, in the Earth Country. But they are more common here in the Forest of Death than most any other place in the Land of Fire. This habitat suits them, it gives them the food to feed regularly while few animals can hunt them."

Sora watched as the goat collapsed, Raziel slinking out of the shadows to prod the goat with his snout to make sure the goat wouldn't rise again. Seemingly satisfied Raziel clamped his jaws around the goat's neck and started climbing a tree above Sora, where he started the slow process of swallowing a creature bigger than his head. Disgusted Sora turned away, seeing a particularly large explosion blossom into the sky from one of the many battlefields. As Sora settled against the branch he used as a chair he heard three pairs of feet crush the vegetation below, as well as a few whispered words. Sora listened as one of the shinobi, a girl from the sound of it, tug on one of the branches Sora himself had used to get up the tree. Sora settled into a crouch and crawled over to the branch, pulling a kunai from his pouch as he did. Above Raziel hissed in annoyance, obviously annoyed that someone would disturb his meal but Sora dared not look up. The shinobi below must have heard for they froze, the girl's branch taut as she held it. With a half-heard word one of the shinobi, a boy, stated that he'd rather not sleep that close to a snake that could swallow him whole. With a word of agreement the girl let go of the branch and they again crushed vegetation beneath them. "That was close." Sora looked over his shoulder and watched Kairi stab the branch below her with the kunai she'd drawn, sighing in relief as she again closed her eyes. "We should have chosen a better spot." Sora couldn't help but agree but he knew why Ivy had chosen this collection of trees, it was secluded and at the very edge of the forest, the very place most shinobi would rather not be in an exam consisting of time.

Sora looked toward the battle raging in a clearing not forty feet from their camp and watched in silence as the three groups of shinobi exchanged blows. One of the groups was from the Leaf and had a small girl Sora would never want that close to any fight, her eyes were round and her cheeks ashen except for bright splotched of colour high on her cheeks. The other two teams had girls as well, but they were older and had more experience. This girl was stumbling around as she avoided blow after blow from a boy that was toying with her. As Sora watched one of the girl's team-mates, a boy her age but much taller and bulkier, step in for a blow that would have knocked her out. His raised arms started to bleed from the flurry of blows but the boy neither flinched nor backed away, concerned for the girls safety. Sora too was concerned about the girl but he dared not interfere, for both Ivy and Kairi were asleep, or at least they looked asleep, and Raziel had finally finished swallowing his meal and was curled beside Ivy in a hissing ball as he slept. "Go. Help her." Sora looked into Kairi's eyes as she regarded the battle with him, her eyes dark as she watched the boy defending the girl finally fall. "They will die soon if you don't help them." Sora nodded and stood up from where he crouched, already thinking about where to enter the battle. "Save her." Sora looked at Kairi as she touched his cheek, a gentle touch. "She's too young to die like this. Save her." With a push Sora jumped from their camp and started running toward the battle the girl could never hope to survive.

Sora moved in front of the Sand shinobi as he brought down his arm to smack the girl, his hand easily catching the blow. The shinobi's team-mates looked from their fights toward their companion but seemed neither interested nor concerned, as if they were confident that he could kill Sora and be done with it. With a snarl the boy brought his arm down again and Sora reached out and grabbed his wrist before twisting his arm and throwing the boy into the last member of the Leaf team's opponent. As the last boy turned to regard Sora with tired eyes he suddenly went slack, falling to the ground from a blow Sora hadn't seen. With a glance Sora summed up the remaining opponents he now had. 'Three Sound and two Sand. I don't know much about the Sound but I guess it had been one of them who's knocked out the last Leaf.' As he ran his eyes over the Sound shinobi he suddenly felt something claw at his eardrums, something that made him gasp and fall to his knees. The leader of the Sound, a brat with pitch black hair wild around his face he tapped an object strapped to his right wrist, a object filled with holes. "Do you know what this is Leaf nin? This is an amplifier, it allows me to strengthen my attacks tenfold. So.." He tapped a kunai against the amplifier and another needle of pain stabbed into Sora's ears, making his clench his teeth. With thoughts heavy with different techniques Sora decided to go with the simplest. 'Fire style: Great Fireball!' Gathering his chakra Sora exhaled, the jet of flame dancing between his fingers as the ball of flame sped toward the five shinobi. The Sound leader, who Sora could hear from the other two was called Toki, merely thrust his right arm forward and the fireball was reflected upward, bursting above the canopy with a loud bang.

Sora stared at Toki in confusion, the pain from his ears gone, not understanding what had just happened. 'Pressure waves? Sound waves? Chakra waves?' Whatever it was Sora was certain he could beat it if he had the time to formulate a plan. And a plan did form, almost immediately, a plan that suited the situation. Desperate, dangerous, able to kill the very shinobi Sora wanted to save. He formed the seals and gathered the chakra, already drawing in a breath as the Toki and his companions stared at him. 'Fire style: River of flame.' Sora opened his mouth and a wave of flame spewed from his mouth, spreading faster than was possible, toward Toki and his companions. With another sneer Toki thrust his hand toward the fire and it flickered before burning all the brighter. The fire wasn't controlled with gravity or pressure waves, it was controlled with Sora's chakra, making it a taxing jutsu and difficult to maintain for an extended period of time. And over the river of fire Toki and his team started using a complex variety of seals, one jutsu to clear the path, one to fuel the jutsu and one to make the jutsu accurate and devastating. Sora watched as a small ball appeared in Toki's hands, a ball that looked like a miniature tornado. With a small throw the tornado streamed forward and sucked in the surrounding fire and plants, making it a fiery tornado capable of breaking bones. Sora ended his river of fire and jumped back, already using more seals. 'Fire style: Leo Incineration.' The lion burst into life and started running toward the tornado, slamming into it like something solid and roared, and its flame body exploding in a flurry of small flames.

Sora watched in disbelief as his lion was destroyed, not really certain how it had happened but starting to cast another fireball nonetheless. Before he could take a breath the tornado was upon him, clawing at his clothes and grabbing at his hair. He saw a pointed branch move toward him and tried to manoeuvre out of the way but it slammed into him. At that speed and at that angle the branch was more a stake than anything else and it made like any stake would, it pierced Sora's breast and made him scream in pain. With another yell his body exploded into a cloud of smoke, the jutsu keeping his body alive destroyed.

Sora watched from the tree line as Toki and his companions destroyed his shadow clone, impressed by their ferocity in battle. But he just shrugged and signalled another two of the three shadow clones he'd made forward, watching them with his Sharingan. These two had learned from the other's mistake, they attacked as they moved, never standing still. They used their shuriken and kunai, a rain descending upon Toki and his friends with lethal accuracy. But they too could use ninja tools, they started throwing their own shuriken at Sora's clones, destroying one and continually missing the other. When Sora's clone grew bored of the sport he finally activated his Sharingan, even though he could only maintain it for a little while, and started using more jutsu. And in between a fireball and a Leo Incineration he used genjutsu, trapping Toki and his team in a bleak opposite of the world they now occupied. The first jutsu they avoided but the second, the fiery lion clamping his teeth around Toki and dragging the other two closer with his fangs Sora's lion exploded.

Sora watched the smoke clear and watched as his last shadow clone vanished in a puff of smoke, both from lack of chakra and the blade of wind that had beheaded him. The Sand shinobi watched in disbelief as Sora's clone sifted away on the wind, clearly alarmed that he had only destroyed a clone. "Where is he!" Sora smiled, the two Sand shinobi still able to fight seemed terrified at the show of power, who's power he wasn't sure but terrified nonetheless. 'Terror I can use.' He focused his Sharingan on the two Sand and cast a genjutsu, a devilishly clever genjutsu that altered their five senses without them being the wiser. He jumped down from his post high in the tree and watched in amusement as the two Sand turned slowly, as if they were trying to turn in honey, and begin to run, their movement slow enough so that Sora could watch them for almost an hour before they even reached the trees.

The Sand occupied Sora went to the three Sound shinobi and bound them in wire, making sure to make their bonds tight enough so they could hardly breathe, an enemy who couldn't breathe couldn't try to attack when his back was turned. Both enemy teams taken care of he went to the girl he'd initially gone to save, her eyes wet with terror induced tears and her body shaking uncontrollably. After checking that she wasn't hurt he went to the boy who'd defended her, the one who hadn't flinched even though his arms were bare to the bone. Shockingly he was awake, scrabbling toward the kunai closest to him. Sora kicked the kunai away and pulled the boy to his feet, holding him in one hand as he inspected his wounds. "Are you alright? No, wait, that's a stupid question. Do you need healing?" With a shake of his head the boy started to thrash in Sora's grasp, spraying even more blood onto the ground. "Good, you have the guts to say no even though you'd bleed to death in a few minutes, that's good." With only one hand left to him Sora frowned in concentration and resigned himself to use one hand to cast seals better left for use of both. Where the normal seals would take but a few seconds Sora had to cast both sides of the seals, putting extra focus on the seals he had to cast with his right hand.

When the warm glow of healing jutsu shone in Sora's hand he slowly spread his hand over the boy's right arm and healed the damage, feeling his chakra drain away at an alarming rate. He healed the boy enough so he wouldn't die but left some of his slighter wounds as they were, like the skin on the boy's arms, the muscle, nerves, tendons and bones healed. When he was done he dropped the boy where he was and walked over to the boy the Sound had knocked out and woke him with a light prod from his foot. The boy's eyes flashed open and regarded Sora in fear. "Where are they?" Reaching down Sora pulled the boy to his feet, making sure that the boy wasn't going to stab him with a pointy object all the while. "What's your name?" The boy then set about introducing himself and his team, all their honorific's and nicknames. "Okay, Gabriella, Yaksha and Shin. Why did they attack you?"

Sora sat on a protruding tree as Yaksha explained why the Sand and Sound had attacked them. "They wanted our scroll, even though they already have both. Bounty hunters, all of them." Sora frowned at the strange title but remained still, watching the Sound slowly wake from their pain induced slumber and the Sand slowly make their way toward the edge of the forest. When Toki started screaming into the forest, just to attract other teams and start another battle, Sora walked over to him and picked him up, the other two standing up as well. "Shut up Toki. I could have killed you with my shadow clones but I didn't, be grateful I only kill in real battles, not this mockery of fighting." Toki stared at him through his wild hair and slowly opened him mouth, revealing a needle clamped between his teeth, and spat in Sora's face. The splatter of spittle made him drop Toki and the prick of the needle made him clench his teeth. With a single move he removed the needle and drove it into Toki's arm, twisting it with a painful motion. "Nice try you fool. Only Naga venom can affect me. Any other poison does nothing." Sora drove his fist into Toki's gut and cut him loose, telling him to leave. "If I hear you attacked these kids again I'll rip your guts out. And I don't make idle threats. Now get out of my sight!" With glance toward his team-mates Toki ran headlong into the trees, his earlier bravado gone.

**Review! Please?**


	21. Semifinals

**Next chapter: Semi-finals.**

Sora flicked his hand toward the two Sand and tied the last piece of wire to a nearby root before releasing the genjutsu. As their movements began to speed up once more Sora had the pleasure of seeing even more terror appear on their faces. With quick, birdlike sweeps of their heads they regarded their situation. "We won't talk." Sora raised a brow and chuckled, not in the least interested about what they wanted to say. "Good, I don't like meaningless bubbling. What kind of scrolls do you have? And I know you have more than one set, these Genin hinted as much." The leading Sand clamped his jaw shut and shot his friend a hard glare, telling him to keep his mouth shut with his eyes. "I won't tell. No matter how you torture us, we won't talk." Sora dipped his head, sweeping his hair out of his face with his fingers. "Like I said, I don't like meaningless bubbling." With a single hand Sora grabbed the Sand in an iron grip and opened his eyes to their full extent, his Sharingan already breaking down the wall within the Sand's mind. "You don't have to say anything. I'll take it out of your mind." And he did, he ripped the information from the shinobi's mind before letting him go, leaving him shivering and shaking as if cold.

With quick movements Sora retrieved the Sand's scrolls from a hollow in a tree not twenty feet from the clearing, making sure to dismantle the explosive tag on the inside and cutting the wire to the pitfall beneath him at the same time. Grabbing the six scrolls, three complete sets of Heaven and Earth scrolls, and headed back to the clearing. "Which scroll do you need?" The three Leaf Genin looked surprised but responded without hesitation and Sora handed them a Heaven scroll. He took the scroll he needed, an Earth scroll, and place another set close to the Sand's feet. "You could defeat the other Genin so you deserve to pass this test so you can keep these. These however," and here he held up the remaining two scrolls, "Will go to whoever find them." With a shout Sora launched the two scrolls into the air, one going deeper into the heart of the forest and one toward the south gate, which would put it anywhere between the tower and the gate. With a kunai Sora cut the wire holding the Sand in place and started walking away, motioning for the trio from the Leaf to follow him.

When Sora reached the tree Kairi stuck her head over the small platform the tree trunks made and smiled at him, a smile that made him chuckle and groan at the same time. Waving his hand upward he bid Gabriella, Yaksha and Shin upward, going after them a second later. When he reached the top he almost burst out laughing, the sight was so funny. Raziel was curled up in front of the trio Sora had brought with him, one green eye focused on them while the other regarded Kairi with an almost questioning expression. Walking past Shin he touched Raziel on the jaw and went to sit down on the branch he'd made his own. As he sat down he looked into the one green eye visible. "Raziel, they can sleep here tonight." Baring his fangs in what would have been a cheery smile if it hadn't come from a snake who could swallow them whole Raziel slithered over to Ivy and curled up beside her with his head mere inches from her right hand.

Sora sat beside Gabriella as he kept watch, the girl looking over the forest with keen eyes. Now that he could look at her closely he realised that she would be a great beauty later in life, her tragically pointed chin would transform into a narrow point framed by a long, lean neck. Her round cheeks would lose the baby fat that she hadn't lost yet to reveal cheekbones that would be high and delicate, that would give her the expression of dignity no matter how embarrassed or rude her expression. Her enormous eyes would turn slanted and mysterious instead of cute or terrified. "You should grow your hair out. It would complete what you will become." Her hair just brushed her shoulders, spiky and ragged around her face. Her hair was a pale gold, complementing her tanned skin without making her look shabby. Her blush made her eyes all the brighter, something Sora couldn't help but notice. With a subtle motion he leaned back against the bough he sat upon and activated his Sharingan, curious to see what the girl really was. Even though it was dark he could see perfectly, even better than his now-normal eyes. As Gabriella stared at him openly with a stare reserved to those who kill without reason and those who have suffered unnamed agony he looked into her gold tinged hazel eyes. With a sigh he let his Sharingan slip away, no longer having the chakra to use it as he usually would. "Wake me at dawn, will you?" Gabriella gave a curt nod and Sora closed his eyes and allowed his tired body to drag him into sleep.

Kairi opened her eyes and looked into green eyes she let out a tiny shriek, calming herself when she finally placed the eyes. "Raziel, get away." She shoved at his head like she would at a probing hand and he opened his mouth in a toothy grin. She liked the snake, he had a quirky personality streaked with warmth and playfulness, like a kitten. She knew he could hurt her but she couldn't help but compare him with a kitten, for he was a playful kitten if he wasn't scaring her to death. When he nudged her with his big head, more gentle than she thought possible, she sighed and swung her legs down from the bed of moss she'd made for herself. Ivy was already awake, like she always was, but Sora and two of their guests were still asleep, the girl Gabriella standing beside Ivy. Looking at them through her sleep-laden eyes she couldn't help but think that Gabriella was a shorter, rounder version of Ivy. The two of them even stared toward the horizon with the same kind of detached love. Ivy loved nature, especially nature overburdened with trees older than the land itself. And it seemed to her at that moment that Gabriella was made of the same stuff, loving nature but more than willing to bathe in the blood of her enemies if it saved the trees she loved so much.

As Kairi stared Gabriella turned her hazel eyes toward her, and meeting her stare with her a fiery intensity that Ivy had when she was bored, a tempered kind of strength. With a flick of her eyes Kairi broke away, impressed with the strength the girl had. 'Then why couldn't she defend herself last night? Was she afraid or what?' But the more Kairi looked at Gabriella her certainty that the girl hadn't been afraid grew stronger. As she studied Gabriella the boys still asleep started to stir, Gabriella's team mates standing up while Sora just sighed and rolled out of his seat until he knelt with one arm against the ground for balance. For a second Sora seemed to rear up before he sank back down, his face tired. 'He's pushing himself.' Kairi knew that Sora had been pushing himself further than he should for more than a week, but she had let him because she knew he wouldn't listen to her. With a grunt Sora rose to his feet and gave her a tired smile, his eyes dark behind a veil of his hair.

Sora activated his Sharingan to make sure that no one was stalking them and almost collapsed when his body seemed to burn with a fire that seared his veins. He knew he was utterly exhausted and that pushing himself as he was would kill him. With a dry chuckle he figured out why the second part of the Chūnin exam was three days long, not just one and not over five. 'The people who use their chakra carelessly or the people who don't have all that chakra at all wouldn't have time to recover between fights and travelling. With one day you could just run all the way to the tower and steal the scroll you need and with seven you can attack slowly. But with three, you can't recover, it's too much time and too little.'

Tired as he was Sora lagged behind the rest of his group, Raziel beside him. The great serpent continually coiled and uncoiled his body to move effortlessly from tree to tree, his movements fast but easily maintained. Gabriella and her group had left the soon after they had broken camp, telling him that they were heading toward the tower. Sora's team was moving toward the tower as well, but slowly, carefully. Ivy had already dismantled five traps and they've barely been moving for an hour. Soon after they had broken away from Gabriella she had stopped by another ancient oak, doing as she'd done the previous day and drawing the renewed layout on another scroll. Even though they were steadfastly avoiding any shinobi they were encountering trap after trap, the work of someone who didn't want to be followed. But from the leaves and branches concealing the traps Ivy had determined that the traps were days old. "It was probably Anko making this a bit of fun." And Anko was having fun, Sora had already heard dozens of surprised screams, the work of traps, or so Ivy told him.

Raziel was more than able to sniff out traps, for he had detected traps Ivy had overlooked, earning a good scratching from Ivy. And so Sora called Ivy and Kairi to a halt when Raziel hissed menacingly before glaring into a clump of fir trees far to the right. As Sora watched a shinobi popped from the clump of concealing firs, a drawn bow in his hands. From what Sora could see he was from the Sand but a bow wasn't something someone from the Sand would use, they either relied on chakra or their own brute strength. And from the look of the bow Sora guessed the former, for the arrowhead was wrapped in a swirling blade of wind, forming a drill. "Don't let the arrow touch you! It'll bore straight through!" From Sora's left there came a bloodied shinobi, the Hyuuga's eyes staring at the bow wielding Sand with evident caution. Before Sora could question the Hyuuga further the archer fired, the arrow surrounded in a nimbus of swirling air as it shot toward Ivy. Before Ivy could move out of the way or even move Raziel was there. His body blocked Ivy from view as the arrow touched the scales on his back, scales Sora knew could deflect a direct hit from a Water Fang Bullet jutsu without a scratch. These scales split as the arrow buried itself in Raziel's body, Raziel spitting in pain as he glared at the archer with a look of anger Sora would recognise in a human.

Sora watched as Raziel widened his eyes as he stared at the archer, his eyes turning black as he stared. With a scream the archer let go of the arrow he was already holding against his ear and it drilled through a tree beside Raziel, the arrow moving through the tree almost twenty feet in diameter, still having enough power left to split a rock set inside the cliff behind the tree. Sora remembered what Ivy had told him. "...not uncommon for a snake or some other giant hunter to use the power of its mind to subdue or even kill with their minds..." But Sora hadn't thought that the psychic attack from a snake could be strong enough to make a human's ears, nose, eyes and mouth bleed. With another spitting hiss Raziel launched himself forward and sank his fangs deep into the Sand's neck. There he remained, his body wrapping around the shinobi's body with multiple snaps as the shinobi's bones broke from the sheer strength of Raziel's embrace.

While Sora watched Raziel unwrapped himself from the Sand shinobi and slither back toward them slowly, his broken scales weeping large tears of blood. When he settled on a branch not far away Ivy went to him and carefully pulled the arrow from his body. As the arrow fell to the ground Raziel's eyes turned green once more and he licked his wound, golden venom falling into the wound. With a hiss Raziel tensed his body as the wound started smoking, the wound closing and healing within seconds.

Kairi looked away from Raziel and down toward the Hyuuga who had warned them about the Sand shinobi. With a flutter of leaves she dropped to the ground and looked him up and down. "Are you hurt?" The Hyuuga shook his head but Kairi could see a hole punched through his shoulder, the same kind of wound she's seen in Raziel. She made the necessary seals and laid her hands on both side of his chest as she went to stand beside him, the wound closing slowly. Kairi 's medical jutsu was better than Sora's but not even close to Sakura's, still she could regenerate the bones, muscle and skin the shinobi had lost. "What's your name?" He smiled at her through the pain. "Kuwa Hyuuga." Kairi nodded and smiled at his slightly, not losing her focus on the jutsu. Before long Kuwa had full use of his arm again and he left to go help his friends against the other Sand who had attacked them.

Kairi joined Sora as he looked toward the horizon, the shadows under his eyes prominent. "What are we going to do? We're wasting time on these traps but we can't avoid them. We can't even use the tunnels because they lead away from the tower." His voice was rough and tired and Kairi turned him toward her, pulling at the corner of his frowning lip, turning it into a crooked smile. Before long Raziel was ready to continue and Ivy led them on a path that would take them to the side of the tower, so they would be close but not close enough for the bounty hunters to detect them. Before long the forest gave way to dirt, small tufts of grass growing in the shade some of the scattered trees gave. With a sigh Ivy sat down next to the cliff and started taking her boots off, her pants and shirt following shortly afterward.

Sora went to stand beside Ivy but kept his eyes away from her, afraid that he would blush. With a dry chuckle she took his hand and tugged, forcing him to look at her. She had clothes on, skin-tight silky pants with a billowy shirt. With another smile she flung herself from the cliff, splashing into the lake below. Before long Kairi joined him and they both stripped to their barest, smooth silken pants for Sora and Kairi wearing much the same as Ivy. With a grin Kairi jumped from the cliff, her shirt billowing in the wind her descent made. With a step Sora joined her, taking a deep breath before he plunged into the crystal clear water. When he reached the bottom of the very large but relatively shallow lake he looked up and watched as Ivy descended toward him, her hair floating around her. She smiled at him and small bubbles escaped from her mouth. Sora smiled in return and watched as a very colourful fish swam past, its dorsal fin twice as long as it's lean body.

Sora breached the surface of the lake and watched Kairi pad toward him with smooth strokes of her lean arms. Living on an island for most of your life made you a very strong swimmer, and Kairi was a prime example. She could hold her breath for longer than most professional swimmers and her movements were smooth and strong, propelling her forward faster than some fish. Sora too was adept at holding his breath and swimming but Kairi's ability far exceeded his, evident in how she beat him in the small race they had and could follow the fish for longer than he could.

While Sora was below the water he saw a shadow moving above him, the sun directly overhead. He was certain it was someone who was standing on the cliff, but he couldn't make out their face, the water and the sun prevented that. So with a kick he swam upward, breaching the surface a second later. He was right, it was someone, Kuwa Hyuuga to be specific, two people who must have been his team-mates at his sides. And above them loomed Raziel, his tongue lapping at the air. Kuwa seemed to be talking to the serpent, his mouth moving and his hands gesturing. With a bored blink Raziel turned away, moving down the cliff via the small ridge that surrounded the lake. With a splash Raziel joined them and Kuwa a second after him, his body still bloody but his shoulder healed without a scar. "May we join you friend?" With a small nod from Sora Kuwa relaxed, his body unclenching. "Thank you. I was wondering why you left me to return so I followed after we defeated the Sand shinobi. We had to see if you were all right, we Leaf should look out for each other, yes?" Behind him Ivy padded by and Kairi was far below, looking up at them through the mass of water. "Yes. We must look out for each other." With a relieved sigh Kuwa waved his companions down, the two of them splashing into the water a second later.

Though a battle was raging in the distance and time was slipping through their fingers Sora and his team enjoyed their swim. The team that had joined them was enjoying it as well but they still required their scroll. So when they finished their swim they decided to relax on the banks. As lunch was fast approaching and there really was a lot of large fish in the lake they decided to catch some fish. Sora sent Kuwa and Kama, one of Kuwa's companions, to gather some wood. Kuwa was grumbling as they left but Kama seemed pleased with doing something productive. Without further ado he turned back to the lake and nodded to Kairi, who used Water Pillar to draw some of the fish out of the water. With needles Ivy carried in her pouch in the place of shuriken she impaled the fish as the rose out of the water, wire attached to the needles to easily retrieve the fish.

As they waited for the wood Sora had the last of Kuwa's team, a boy with the name Enoki, dig a pit to protect the fire against gusts of wind. So while Enoki dug his pit Sora helped Ivy with cleaning and gutting the fish, a squishy, nasty experience that made him shiver with disgust. Before long both Kama and Kuwa returned, their arms stacked with wood and the Sand shinobi who had attacked them strapped over Kama's shoulder. With a finger dirtied with fish guts and scales Sora pointed to the pit Enoki had already finished. Sora cleaned his hands of filth and looked at the pit filled almost to the brim with wood and drew in a deep breath, his hands using a series of seals he hadn't used in that order before. 'Fire style: Dragon fire skill.' With a gentle breath to make the stream of fire as thin and controlled as possible Sora blew out a continuous flame, setting the wood alight in seconds. He made sure to keep the fire's heat as low as possible so he wouldn't turn the wood into ash, something most of his fire techniques did on account of his heavy chakra. With a sigh the flame died, arming his face with a toasty heat. He sank down as a wave of fatigue slammed into him, reminding him anew that he was utterly exhausted.

With sticks cut from a juniper tree they skewered the fish, heating the sticks until the foul tasting sap had evaporated, and stuck them into the ground over the fire. As they waited Sora went swimming again, one of Ivy's needles clamped in his teeth. When he reached the bottom of the pool he pulled a small pipe from around his neck and strung it with wire until it was taut enough to launch the needle fast enough to skewer the fish he now caught. When he was done he wound a bundle of string around the fish he'd killed tails and went to dry off close to the fire. With quick slashes he cut the string and amused himself by throwing the whole fish toward Raziel's gaping jaws. He fed the snake little, or compared to what Sora ate quite a load, for the snake had barely digested the goat he'd caught the night before. The only reason he dared feed the snake was because Ivy had told him that Raziel's kind digested food faster than most any other reptile, faster than a person on account of the bones and horns and other hard matter they had to digest of their kills. He knew that Raziel would have hunted that night anyway, that he would have eaten more than he normally would on account of the fact that he would accompany Ivy into the Leaf and didn't know when he would next have a chance to hunt.

When Ivy called him to eat Sora's stomach grumbled, reminding him anew that he hadn't had breakfast that morning or dinner the previous night. He took a fish that was lying low over the coals and brought it to his mouth, his mouth watering when he smelled the rich flesh. He tilted his eyes upward and watched as Kairi hesitantly bit into her fish, remembering that she'd turned vegan since he'd left the Islands. He knew that she wouldn't devour the flesh from a land dweller and that her conscience even rebelled against her when she ate fish. "It's all right Kairi. All things that live will someday die. These fish were close to death anyway, age had turned their scales pale and their movements slow. We put them out of their misery." As Sora talked Ivy herself paused as she ate, as if she too was being assured of the facts Sora stated. Sora briefly wondered if Ivy herself was vegan, she was part Fey after all.

Their lunch finished Sora, Ivy and Kairi dressed along with Kuwa's group, the cold water refreshing. When they were fully dressed Sora watched as Kama toyed with the bow the Sand had carried, a thin wave of wind always swirling on the slanting tips and thin bowstring. Ivy held her hand out toward it and she caressed the darkened wood with thin fingers, taking an arrow from the quiver Kama had taken from the Sand's corpse. With deliberate ease she nocked the arrow and drew it to her ear, holding the stiff string with ease. With a puff of air the arrow shot from the arrow and a thin torrent of wind surrounded the tip, allowing it to bore through the boulder she aimed at."A true treasure, a natural conductor of wind chakra. Use it well." Ivy gave the bow and quiver of arrows back to Kama and strode over to the edge of the cliff, her eyes focusing on something in the distance.

Sora said his farewell with Kairi and Ivy before he started toward the tower, Kuwa's group heading in the opposite direction toward three shinobi Kuwa had seen with his Byakugan. Kama had his hand on his bow as they disappeared into the gloom. With another look toward them Sora joined Kairi as she jumped from bough to bough, the trees great limbs not even quivering from the impact. Before long the tower in the centre of The Forest of Death came into view above the canopy, a bare smudge of brown against the green forest. Before the sun set they made camp, high in the trees again. To increase their defence Ivy drew the trees closest to them closer still and formed a wall of wood and leaves that hid them from view and also muffled their voices.

Late that night Kairi was looking up at the stars, Sora's head above hers. "Tomorrows the big day." Much to her annoyance he replied with a grunt, followed by a yawn. "Are you gonna make it Sora? Tomorrow I mean?" This time he stayed silent for so long Kairi thought he'd fallen asleep. "I will try my best. My best is better than most but there are still warriors who can outfight me." Kairi knew this was true, Kakashi was a prime example. "Do you think I'll make it?" His sigh made her prop herself up on an elbow and look at him, his own eyes heavy upon her. "Kairi...if you try hard enough you can kill anyone. Uriel has complimented you more than he's complimented me or Riku. And look how far you've come with your jutsu. Last week you couldn't even use Water pillar, now you can use Great Waterfall without a hitch. If I used that much chakra I'd pass out, I have passed out from using that much. You could break Kakashi's genjutsu without trying while I had to bleed and burn within my mind before I could even touch him." Sora's praise surprised her, he was rarely someone for praise. He complimented and teased but he never praised.

Sora knew Kairi's weak spot, flattery. What he said was perfectly true, he was holding back what he really thought about her in fact. He knew she was stronger than him, if just in focus and stamina. His endurance outstripped her and his chakra could swallow hers whole with room to spare but she could easily beat him in any fight; genjutsu, ninjutsu and maybe taijutsu. 'I don't want to fight her, that's for sure.' As a satisfied smile spread over Kairi's face Sora himself smiled and laid back on the bed of soft moss he'd made for Kairi and himself. BY unspoken conclusion Ivy had taken the night's watch, Raziel would watch when she slept. Because she slept so little Raziel himself would be able to sleep deeply before morning arrived. Before Ivy had crooned a song to make the trees embrace them she had gone hunting, not for animals or even shinobi. She had returned an hour later, a smile splitting her face and a large bundle in her arms. When she'd lain the bundle down on the floor Sora recognised some of the ingredients, for Iruka had mentioned them on numerous occasions. Most gave energy when there was no other choice but others did the opposite, gathering energy instead of releasing it when digested. She had shaped a bowl out of a stump and had mashed all the herbs and plants into pulp before mending them into three separate clumps, one for each of them. With a series of techniques Sora failed to grasp she's dried the concoctions out before watering them down thrice, had ground them together and poured a small vial over each clump, green smoke rising where the drops fell.

Sora watched as Ivy moulded the three lumps of moist pulp into small spheres before laying them next to a fire she'd made and flattered. As the three spherical lumps dried the crushed herbs changed colour, each herb turning a different colour of green or brown. Before Sora closed his eyes to sleep Ivy walked closer, a lump in each hand while hers was next to her own mattress of moss. She handed Sora his lump and Kairi hers and bid them to eat. "We're tired. Sora, you're going to collapse the way you keep running around and saving the children. Eat, it'll make you feel better." With a resigned shrug Sora bit into his dried lump, the herbs spicy and sweet upon his tongue. He had expected something bitter and tasting of mould or rotten leaves. Instead he found himself enjoying the lump, the small pieces he'd already swallowed warming him from within. Beside him Kairi made a sound of enjoyment, her own lump almost finished. With another shrug Sora dug in, the lump finished before he was.

Sora closed his eyes and tried to sleep, the warmth the herbs made making him feel safe and secure. Before he could open his eyes to thank Ivy he was gone, his eyes opening to bright daylight a second later. To his utter astonishment and relief he found that he was completely rested, more so than he'd been in weeks. He stretched and groaned in pleasure as his muscles flexed without pain. Something that had been bothering him since he'd graduated from the Academy. Both Ivy and Kairi shared his thoughts, they moved about with smiles they obviously weren't aware of and Ivy even sang a soft song that made the hair on the back of Sora's neck stand on end. They ate a light breakfast, for the herbs had suppressed their hunger, aware that they may be fighting later that day. With a murmured thanks to the trees Ivy parted the trees shielding their camp and they jumped down, their bodies light as air as they dropped to the ground, and started toward the tower.

Though they were very close to the tower they only reached it at high noon, many bounty hunters barring their way along with shinobi who had either lost their scrolls to another team or who had somehow survived the fighting without gaining a scroll at all. After the third ambush Sora finally lost his temper, cool though his head may be. He activated his Sharingan and started running recklessly into the trees, Ivy trailing a mere step behind him while Kairi and Raziel brought up the rear. With quick movements Sora took out the four shinobi who stood in their way and took out the fourth shinonbi's team as they came running.

Sora skid to a halt before the great doors that lead into the tower, breathing heavy from the exertions. With a grunt he opened the door, the doors were heavy after all. Beyond a wall covered in runes met them, the room large and airy with high windows and open spaces. They walked in with light footsteps and Kairi pulled out their Heaven scroll and Sora their earth, finally opening them and seeing the seal inside. As the two scrolls started smoking Sora threw the scroll onto the floor in front of him and Kairi threw hers over his, the summoning jutsu complete. And from the smoke Kakashi appeared, a pleased expression on his covered face. "Cut it close didn't you?" Sora grinned and shook his head, Kairi and Ivy glaring at him in annoyance. Raziel hissed but stayed where he was, towering behind Ivy. Instead of staring at the snake like Sora though he would Kakashi slowly shook his head and smiled at them, his eye closing in merriment. "You did it! Congratulations team."

Instead of doing what he wanted, which was laugh and scream in joy, Sora inclined his head toward the wall and read the inscription, seeing the missing rune. "What's missing?" With a glance Kakashi turned toward the wall, drawing Sora's attention upward. And thus Kakashi explained, taking care to explain the significance. Sora understood, he'd read the completed phrase many times in the scrolls Iruka had given him. When Kakashi was done he led them into a massive room, a pair of hands forming a seal at the very end, a platform with railings surrounding the open area except for the wall that the hands originated from.

Sora waded into the Genin who had passed the second test, noting that their number had dwindled by only five teams, less than most previous Chūnin exams. Considering that Sora knew what would follow, for all Chūnin exams with too many contestants did it: preliminaries. But the Genin around him didn't seem to know that, they all seemed pleased that they had passed the second part of the test. Beside him Ivy was looking excited, bloodlust and something else shining in her eyes. She too knew that preliminaries were inevitable.

And so it was, Anko started talking from the front and she introduced the third examiner of the Chūnin test , a Jōnin called Botan. "He's good, he won't let anyone die if he can help it. And even if he can't help it the mentors would step in." Kakashi whispered, making Sora and his team miss what Botan was saying. Tsunade made a speech next, it was brilliant, inspiring courage and strength from the tired Genin...That is, before she informed them of the preliminaries. "You have succeeded where others would have failed. But too many succeeded so we will initiate in eighteen rounds of combat, individual combat. Unless any here wish to resign from this test. If you choose to resign you will be escorted to the entrance of the forest with your mentors. Who here wish to try again next time?" From the thirty-six shinobi present eight threw in the towel, limping and groaning toward the doors a Jōnin held open for them, their mentors around them. "Very well, twenty eight remain, so there will be fourteen rounds." When no other shinobi left Tsunade flashed a quick smile at them all and back away toward the stairs, everyone streaming up the stairs to observe the fights. From a board in the wall came two rotating lists, the names of everyone still present flashing. When the dials stopped flashing Botan called the two shinobi down and they initiated combat.

While the two shinobi below fought Sora made sure to follow their movements, made sure to examine their way of fighting, for he knew he might very well end up fighting them if he won his fight. Beside him Kairi looked down at the fight with an intensity he had rarely seen, even in combat. And beside her Ivy was amusing herself by scratching at the scales on Raziel's snout, the snake's head lifting to make the scratching rougher. Across from him Sora watched as six familiar faces moved around the arena. Gabriella waved at him when he met her gaze and she started running, much to Yaksha and Shin's aggravated cries. To Sora's left Kuwa's group came toward them with a much slower and regal gait, reaching Sora and Kairi before Gabriella's group. "So you survived. We assumed as much." Behind Kuwa Enoki and Kama nodded their heads, Enoki's face a blank mask as he glanced toward the fight below as one of the combatants cried out in pain. Before Sora could even greet them Gabriella ran up, Yaksha grinning as Shin scowled at her. "He probably won't even remember us." Sora raised a brow but kept his peace, Gabriella's eyes bright with excitement. "What do you think about the other Genin Sora? Will I make it?"

Sora couldn't help but smile at Gabriella's innocent tone, her eyes wider than usual as she watched the shinobi below hack each other to pieces with their kunai. To still the trembling that wracked her small form he laid his hand on her small shoulder. "Don't worry about winning. Winning would be fine but survival is more important. If it seems you can't win don't push yourself, you can try again in the next test if you must." When her mouth opened in betrayal her eyes grew even brighter as tears collected at the corner of her eyes. To sooth her he crouch and looked into her eyes. "If you believe you can win then win, if you think you have a chance try. No matter what happens you have won this fight, you've come this far. If you want to fight someone who can kill you avoid his or her blows when you can and strike quickly, don't let them see grow used to your movements, surprise may yet win most of these fights. And if they dare to try and land a death blow I'll stop them." Gabriella's trembling ceased and she squared her shoulders, her narrow shoulders growing stiff with confidence. She nodded and Sora smiled before moving away, watching the one shinobi limp away while the other was carried away on a stretcher, Botan announced the winner and the revolving bulletin board started spinning again.

Sora watched as the dials slowed, before they stopped with a dull ache. A smile split Sora's face as he read the names. 'Ivy vs. Toki. What a perfect matchup.' Beside him Ivy scowled, her displeasure evident. "Can they at least give me a challenge!" Her words rang out over the hall, her lilting voice fierce with anger. Before she could start screaming at Botan though, Sora pulled her toward him, his eyes meeting hers as they regarded each other. "Ivy, don't kill him if you don't have to. He's not worth it." His voice was low, so low that Kairi and Kakashi couldn't hear. Squeezing her arm he moved away, staring at her with his gaze heavy upon her. She tilted her head to the side and started toward the stairs. Raziel following her.

Ivy allowed Raziel to follow her, his scales rustling dryly as he slithered. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she sidestepped a puddle of blood and looked up at Sora, frowning all the while. 'Why would he think I'd kill a worthless punk like Toki? I wouldn't even have killed him before, it wouldn't even have been fun.' With a sigh she stopped in front of Botan and looked at him, the frown sliding from her face in less than a second. With a sharp hiss Raziel wrapped his body around hers, his head hovering beside her own as his body weighed her down. He wasn't as heavy as people would suspect, she's blessed him with the ability to alter the effect gravity had on him, making him weigh either like a snake a tenth his size or a snake almost four times his size. Though she liked having him near she liked fighting a solo match more, it made it more fun. "Raziel...no." As his tongue lapped her cheek she watched as Toki walked down the stairs, heavy deliberate steps. Raziel fixed her in a pleading stare but she touched his scaly cheek and shook her head, his discomfort her own. But he obeyed, slithering over toward Hayate, Botan regarding him with an intensity that spoke of experience with many snakes. "He won't bite...much. Will you Raziel?" Raziel flashed her a toothy grin and his serrated teeth showed, the pure white needles reflecting the light.

Ivy listened to Botan give the rules and she hurried him on with a flick of her fingers, earning a hard stare in return. When he finally initiated the fight Ivy wasted no time, she jumped back and threw four needles toward Toki, sure that he'd deflect them but intent on keeping him on his toes. She was right, the needles turned in midair and hurtled toward her, the polished surfaces gleaming in the light. Ivy dodged her own needles and started forward, making sure to avoid the wave of sound Toki sent toward her by observing the vibrations in the air. When she was close enough she drew back her leg and slid in behind him, startling him enough to make him look over his shoulder at her. Though she could rip his head off if she so pleased she didn't, instead bringing her leg forward and kicking him in the side. She heard the crack of bone and Toki went flying, his eyes closing in pain. Using a speed unknown to any but the shinobi Ivy moved to intercept Toki before he struck the wall, kicked him in the back and sent him hurtling skyward.

Ivy jumped into the air and waited for Toki as he came toward her, her hands raised above her head in a joined fist. With a rush of air she slammed her fists into Toki's chest, sending him crashing into the ground hard enough to break the stones. Not done yet she cast an assortment of seals and crashed downward, a ball of wind in her hand. Her affinity was earth, but she was almost stronger with wind because it was so destructive, it suited her destructive nature. 'Wind style: Wind impact!' It was a variation of Toki's own tornado, but her attack only made a very small sphere that merely covered her hands in a blanket of pressure that made her strikes more powerful than before. Also, she needn't touch her opponent, as the pressure blanket radiated from her hands like poles, the same length of her arms and rounded, making it more a crushing technique than a cutting one. With a punch that shattered the glass in the enormous room Ivy struck downward, driving Toki into the ground, the tiles caving inward under her blow.

Done, Ivy straightened up and called Raziel, the serpent joining her in a second. All in all her attack had taken less than ten seconds, more three or four seconds than five or six. As Botan made his way into the crater and declared Ivy the winner Ivy was already making her way up the stairs, the shinobi that stood in her way moving aside. When she joined Sora and Kairi she grunted when Gabriella and Kama complimented her, not in the mood for talking.

As a stroke of luck Kairi's match was next...against Kuwa. She fixed her stare on him and smiled a sad smile, a smile spreading over his face as well. He knew she would fight to win, just as she knew he would fight to kill. Kairi jumped over the railing and drifted down, Kuwa landing a second after she did. Botan commenced the fight and Kairi sprang back, Kuwa doing the same. As Kairi watched Kuwa's eyes seemed to grow even whiter and the veins around his eyes stood put in high relief, his pupil shadowed with silver strips. His Byakugan was her biggest worry, as it would tell him when she would attack and how. Though he couldn't cast genjutsu with his Byakugan he could see everything around him, something the Sharingan couldn't do.

Kairi cast her eyes around and failed to see what she needed and frowned. The room didn't have a fountain or a tap, which would give her difficulty in casting water type jutsu. She had started with earth jutsu but she couldn't rely on that, her experience with earth was far too little to use in a fight. So she did what she must, drawing what moisture there was in the air, giving her a source of water. As the water she gathered pooled on the floor Kuwa seemed to know what she was doing, for he started forward and jabbed toward her with his hand outstretched. His hand touched her arm as she blocked, her arm stinging more than she knew it should. With a sweeping kick she drove him away but he was already gone, standing ten feet away. Using the seals she needed she skidded backward until she crouched in the confines of the pools she'd made, gathering the enormous amount of chakra she needed. "Water style: Explosion skill!" Kuwa froze for a second before he jumped, but a second was all it took. Pillars rose from all the puddles Kairi had made and they joined into a swirling pillar of water that shot toward him. If he had immediately jumped out of the way he could have dodged the attack but the second of hesitation was all it took, the pillar slammed into him and exploded, a smaller explosion than normal on account of the small amount of water used. For which Kairi was grateful, if it been a full jutsu it would have killed Kuwa, instead it just knocked him out cold.

Kairi watched as Kuwa fell to the ground below, her vision flashing with fatigue. For a second, a brief cold second in which her body screamed in pain, she thought she might faint. But then a wave of heat flowed into her limbs and she let out the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She rose to her feet and took a step forward, her vision turning grey on the edges. She heard Botan declare her the winner via knock-out as if from the end of a tunnel before her legs gave way, someone catching her as she fell. With tired eyes she looked up into crimson eyes, Sora's eyes. With a start she realised that his Sharingan had advanced once more, two tomoe in his eyes. But the two tomoe had shifted, as if to make room for another. It was barely a shift but she knew it meant Sora's eyes were almost complete. He was looking down at her with concern, his arms cradling her closely against his chest. Kakashi stood behind him, Ivy still standing against the banisters with Raziel.

**Review! Please?**


	22. Gabriella

**Next chapter: Gabriella!**

Sora pulled Kairi to her feet and helped her up the stairs, Kakashi behind him. When they reached Ivy he set her down against the wall and touched her cheek, her eyes meeting him. "I'm tired." He nodded, his own body tired. "It's almost over. Sleep if you can, stay here if you can't." He kissed her cheek and got back on his feet, seeing Gabriella engage with a shinobi from the Hidden Mist.

Gabriella was outmatched, that much was obvious, but she kept getting up, no matter how hard the Mist hit her. After a particularity brutal blow she stayed down, coughing out the blood that coated her throat. She was hurt, she knew this, but she willed herself up. She got back on her feet and watched as Makati, the Mist ninja, ran toward her, clones swarming around him. Before his fist connected with her chest she raised her arms, blocking the brunt of the blow. But the blow was heavy, and she was light, so she was hurtled backward, striking the wall with her head and shoulders before slumping to the ground. A burning pain in her neck made her flinch and she covered the spot with her hand, knowing what it meant. 'I have to win. If I don't, _he'll _come out.' As Makati was running toward her she reached into the back of her mind, breaching the barrier she'd set within her own mind. As the barrier broke her old skills and jutsu came rushing back, skills that most every village would declare forbidden. Before Makati could touch her she raised her arm, her hand slack as she pointed toward him. With that single gesture he stopped, the authority the movement contained making everyone in the room hesitate. 'Shadow snake hand.' Snakes burst from her sleeve and struck out at Makati, attacking him until he fell to the ground.

Gabriella rose to her feet, her skin shedding to heal all the wounds she'd suffered. A man's face flashed in her mind, a man with black hair and white skin, his pupils mere slits as he regarded her with contempt. With a sneer she dismissed the man, her old master, and walked forward, dismissing the snake's she'd summoned. She raised her hand once more and more snakes burst forth, making Makati kneel before her. 'Sublime snake hands.' She looked into Makati's eyes and smiled, a smile that looked more like a grimace of pain, and held her hand upward, the seal that marred her left forearm bared for all to see. As the Mist shinobi saw the seal his mouth opened in a soundless scream, his eyes wide with terror. But he couldn't move, couldn't speak, for her snakes held him in place. The burning pain in her shoulder intensified as it spread over her face, but she shoved it away, shoving _him_ away. She lowered her arm and the snakes binding Makati's mouth grew slack, allowing him to breathe and speak. She looked toward the proctor and glared, making him walk forward and ask Makati whether he wanted to submit. "I submit! I submit! Just get that _thing _away from me." With a snort Gabriella pointed toward Makati and he flinched, but the snakes covering him merely vanished in a puff of smoke before she walked away, feeling the colour leaving her face as _his _power became her own. When she reached Sora he smiled at her, but his mentor, Kakashi, did not. "You should have told us Orochimaru was your master."

Gabriella stared at Kakashi before she giggled, a sound that was far more innocent than she was. "Orochimaru? My master? Ridiculous, he taught me what he could and bit me, that's all he did. He was never my master, just as Sasuke used him to become stronger I used him, except I wouldn't kill him, it reminded me too much of when he'd forced me to kill my mother and father to prove my loyalty." And she went to stand beside Ivy, a girl who used snakes to fight beside a woman who had a snake as her familiar.

Sora watched Gabriella with his Sharingan, watching her bright red chakra darken and turn foul and oppressive, until it reflected what he imagined what would shine in Orochimaru's other apprentice, Sasuke's, eyes. Death and madness, hatred and rage, brightened with dignity and pride, honour making them better people while making them go to extremes to protect their pride. He shivered, her chakra sickening him, and watched the next fight, Enoki facing one of the Hidden Cloud who had tortured Sora with insults. With some enjoyment he watched Enoki break the Cloud's arm with a savage kick. But the thing that surprised Sora the most was the way Enoki seemed to dodge every blow the Cloud threw at him, his fists and legs seeming to move through him. With a low cry Enoki brought his fist forward, his arm moving faster than Sora thought was possible. With a blow that seemed impossible Enoki hit the Cloud, the Cloud's body flying upward from the blow. As Sora watched Enoki seemed to attach to the Cloud's shadow, his arms spread wide as he followed him. Then with a vicious kick in the side he sent the Cloud flying into the banister beside Sora, the steel denting with a sound of pain from the Cloud.

Though Sora was certain that the Cloud was out cold he went over to check, chuckling when the Cloud dropped to the ground without even a prod from him. Botan declared Enoki the winner and the dial turned once more. As the day ended and the sun started to move toward the western horizon the matches continued. Yaksha lost his fight against a Mist shinobi and Shin forfeited against his opponent. Kama won his fight against a fellow Leaf, neither of them wanted to fight but they did what was required. Then it was the last match, Sora vs. Lee. As Sora jumped over the railing he could see how the other shinobi treated Lee, with a combination of awe, fear and respect. It was how the Genin treated the Jōnin, how they treated people whose abilities they couldn't understand. He had the Hidden Mist symbol upon his forehead, and his face was masked by a scarf, his arms bare except for two leather belts tied around his left arm, the two straps joined by a thick layer of leather. His arms were slim but muscled, tall yet not exceptionally so. But Sora knew he wasn't like other shinobi, he was either stronger than most or he had a Kekkei Genkai that made him dangerous.

Sora watched as Lee stiffened, four kunai flying toward Sora a second later. With an ease that surprised him Sora reached into the pouch at his waist and drew four shuriken, throwing them in less than a second. The four shuriken impacted the kunai in midair and the eight objects turned, the kunai streaking past Sora and the shuriken streaking past Lee. With a humourless laugh and an air of someone who knew what he wanted and knew how to get it Lee started using seals. Seals of finding and binding, seals of bonding and changing, seals that defied what a shinobi should be able to do. A clap of thunder boomed above Lee but he didn't stop, his hands still forming seals. And slowly, slower than Kairi but with more success, it started to rain. With a start Sora knew what Lee's Kekkei Genkai was: to combine water, lightning and wind chakra to form any combination of the three. The lightning that flashed created ozone and the water vapour in the air broke that ozone down, droplets of water forming as the hydrogen and oxygen bonded.

Sora briefly wondered why Lee was using his Kekkei Genkai in front of all the Jōnin, it was a technique he was sure they would kill for. But from the laugh Lee had given earlier he was certain he knew the answer. 'He doesn't care, he knows they might kill him but his arrogance blinds him from the danger. Arrogance borne from years of doing what he wants without anyone being able to stop him.' Sora shrugged, if Lee was showing his power why couldn't he, Sora, do the same? With barely a pause to consider what he was doing Sora activated his Sharingan, observing how Lee was using his individual power to make a cloudless rain.

Sora let Lee finish his preparation, Sora himself was kind enough to at least give him a fighting chance. So when the water was up to his ankles and still pouring down on Lee lowered his hands and stared at Sora with shining black eyes. With another laugh he waved his hands toward Sora, small needles made of water shooting toward Sora at his command. Jumping back Sora dodged the needles, already drinking in more ways to counteract Lee than he was drinking in the rain. When he landed on the water he used his chakra to stand on the surface, though the surface was roiling and churning.

Sora knew he had three ways to defeat Lee's Kekkei Genkai: One, to end the jutsu that was causing the downpour and somehow drain the water away so Lee couldn't rely on the water to attack. Two, he could keep dodging Lee's attacks until he ran out of chakra and the jutsu causing the downpour stopped automatically. Thirdly, he could just..

Sora formed the needed seals and drew in a deep breath, drawing on his hatred and rage to fuel the jutsu he was about to use. 'Fire style: Dragon fire skill!' A jutsu he'd used but rarely, but more effective than a fireball or Leo Incineration. Bringing his hand to cup his mouth Sora drew in a deep breath and let it out with a loud bang. The small stream he'd used to light the fire to cook the fish was pathetic compared to this stream of flame. Once the fire left Sora's mouth it bloomed, bathing a line of the water in a wave of fire six feet wide. The water hissed as it came into contact with the fire but almost nothing evaporated, and the little that did was almost immediately replaced as the downpour increased. When his breath was nearly done Sora released the jutsu, knowing he was just wasting chakra. Though Lee had been in the wave of fire Sora had used he looked unharmed, the water in front of him splashing as if it had been a wall a second before.

Sora dodged another water needle and retaliated, his own kunai swallowed in the water before it was thrown back at him by the water. Knowing that he had to attack in any way he could he sent his gaze toward Lee, hoping to subdue him long enough with genjutsu to get in a blow serious enough to end the fight. But Lee was focused on the task at hand and his flawless concentration deflected Sora's genjutsu without a single scratch to Lee's mental armour. Knowing he was only wasting even more chakra than he normally would with his Sharingan Sora released his hold over his genjutsu.

Hurling himself to the side Sora dodged Lee's latest wave of water, knowing that the water would sever anything attached to his body like butter to a burning sword. Casting his gaze upward toward Kakashi Sora recalled the one time Kakashi had used his signature move, Chidori. It had been on a mission not far from the Leaf, to defeat a bandit who had been raiding travelling merchants. He'd been awed by the speed and power behind the lightning stab, had seen the effect it had had on the bandit Kakashi had used it on. So, sighing, he drew upon the technique the Sharingan gave that he'd used but once.

Sora jumped onto the wall behind him, the wall behind the hands that adorned the front of the large room, the hands now reduced to rubble from the three times Sora had used them as cover. Then, his memory rushing through him, using his Sharingan to copy and use what he'd seen. He widened his stance on the wall and drew the glove from his right hand, tearing the sleeve from his shirt and cloak as well. Bending until he was nearly hunched over he grasped his right wrist with his left hand and drew more and more chakra to his hands, relying on memory to correct the flaws any normal shinobi without the Sharingan would face. Drawing away from his clenched hands as an arch of blue energy snapped at his face he leaned against the wall, Lee giving him a chance to use the jutsu like he'd given Lee a chance to perform his jutsu.

Kakashi watched as Sora copied his only original jutsu, the insistent 'chi chi' clawing at his ears as the chakra in Sora's hand grew. "Impossible." Kakashi knew it couldn't be, he'd used the Chidori once. Once! And even then he hadn't allowed Sora to see, had only shown the lightning blade when he'd impaled the bandit. But he knew his eye wasn't deceiving him, Sora was using Chidori. Closing his right eye and drawing his forehead protector away Kakashi opened his left eye, his Sharingan memorising everything Sora did. 'It's not really a chidori, not really. It's too dark, to quite.' And he was right, Sora's chidori had black lightning, blue light shining only on the bolts of lightning that arched into the air and toward the concrete. 'But his chidori is much more controlled than my own, the lightning not arching so much and his chakra just in his hand and fingers, not his wrist.'

Sora finally stood up, his left hand on his right forearm as he started to run, faster than he'd ever run before as he mimicked Kakashi's speed. When he reached the water a path cleared, the water parting before him. With a loud shout Lee fell into the canyon Sora's chidori had made, helpless as he tried to scramble back up the wall the water had made. When he was mere seconds away Sora threw his right arm forward and leaned into the attack, the chirping reaching a new height. Three steps...two...one. But his path was blocked, a wall of earth and water shielding him from impaling Lee. But he wouldn't be stopped, he couldn't even stop himself. His hand cut through the wall of water, the wall harder than solid stone and into the wall of earth. His momentum had been slowed by the water but his hand was still moving fast enough to shatter a small portion of the wall before his hand slid into flesh, a howl of pain sounding from the other side.

Feeling hot blood pouring over his right hand's fingers Sora put his left hand on the wall of earth and shoved, the wall cracking where his chidori empowered hand had passed through. With a wet splash his hand slid from muscle and the hardness of bone and he had his hand back, blood soaking his fingers and hand. He looked at his hand and plunged it into the wall of water Lee's own jutsu had made. When his hand was clean of blood he drew it back, his flesh pale against the blood that had stained it a second before. Glancing up he saw that four Jōnin had stepped in to stop him, one of which was Kakashi. His left eye was open and Sora's eyes instinctively drew more chakra to combat a threat. Botan declared him the winner by default and everyone except the four Jōnin surrounding Sora cheered, whooping with awe at what they'd seen. But Sora too wasn't celebrating, knowing that Kakashi would scold him later for stealing his technique.

To his surprise Kakashi laid his hand on Sora's shoulder, his Sharingan glinting in the light. "Well done." With his mouth open Sora nodded and fell to the ground as the various cuts and bruises Lee had inflicted upon him made their presence known. Chuckling Kakashi drew him up and hooked his hand into the sash around Sora's waist, drawing his arm over his shoulder as he led Sora toward the doors. Before they reached the doors, however, someone called them back. "Wait!" Sora turned his head before Kakashi turned, wanting to know who was yelling. He was somewhat surprised to see that it was Lee, his left shoulder a mess of blood and gore but still standing. "We are not done yet, you and I! Fight me, Blackheart, if you dare!" Sora raised his eyebrows at the title but drew his hand away from Kakashi's grip, the Jōnin around Lee moving away as he jumped atop the water he'd summoned. Forming the seals he needed and calling the power he needed from deep within his heart he took a breath and shouted with all his might. "Fire style: Great Fire Annihilation!" Everyone, even Kakashi stiffened at the jutsu's name, and the four Jōnin who had saved Lee from Sora's attack once more formed the seals of protection, drawing from the great mass of water around them. As Sora opened his mouth and exhaled a great breath a wave of flame that could easily envelop the entire room sprang forth, the chakra needed to sustain the jutsu enormous. But Sora was more than willing to give Lee the fight he wanted, a fight for the histories. As the four Jōnin used Great Water Encampment Wall a wall of water rose in front of Sora's jutsu, reaching toward the ceiling and covering the entire area behind the wall's reaches.

Sora's jutsu touched the wall of water and the blast of steam nearly made him end the jutsu, but he was determined and that gave him strength. As the Jōnin stood side by side to maintain the wall of water they grew pale and took to shaking with exhaustion, their eyes becoming dull as they endured the hit. When Sora thought they might drop dead and when he thought he'd kill himself if he maintained the jutsu he closed him mouth, cutting off the roiling wave of flame. The four Jōnin maintained the wall of water a second longer before they let the water drop, collapsing to the ground as they shook from exhaustion. All around them only puddles remained, the water Lee had summoned gone from the intense heat of the flames. Lee himself was looking ill, his skin deathly pale as he pulled the scarf from his face and puked into a nearby puddle, wiping his mouth when he was done. "Forgive me, Sora-sama, I spoke ill of you, and for that I apologise." And bowing his head Lee waited for Sora's response. Sora himself wanted to puke, the drain in his chakra nearly killing him from the pain. "There is nothing to forgive, Lee." And turning Sora again let Kakashi help support his weight and the two left through the doorway, Kakashi staring at Sora with a newfound respect that had been absent before Sora had used the Great fire Annihilation.

Sora leaned over as Anko walked past him, her light brown eyed fixed on him as she slid onto the stool beside him. She placed her order and took to looking at Sora with an intensity that unsettled him, scared him even. It had been two days since he'd limped out of the Chūnin hall, Kakashi pulling him to the hospital for healing. But of course he had required no healing, had only had Sakura heal his major wounds before heading to a shop for some ramen, where he had started talking with Anko. Now they met at the same time each day, a friendship that had at first involved threats and teasing, lots of teasing. Now they were close, closer than Sora was with Tsunade, which wasn't saying much as the two of them hadn't really spoken. Her stare finally made him squirm and drop his own stare, because even though he could run into a battle against a thousand Heartless without flinching, Anko still scared him. "Stop that." He made sure to add a certain amount of amusement and sarcasm to taint his otherwise frightened plea. With a chuckle she looked away, taking a drink from the drink the server had set in front of her. "Aren't you a little young to be sitting in a bar?" He shot her a droll stare and took a sip of his own drink, the water cold on his tongue. "Aren't you a little old to still have friends as young as me, crazy snake lady?" At that she burst out laughing, his sense of humour always driving a laugh out of her, at least once. "No. I'm too young to be friends with Tsunade or any of the other old farts. Our friendship is perfectly natural. Though I am shocked Kairi or Ivy isn't with you." At that Sora chuckled, knowing that Anko knew that Kairi was busy training and that Ivy was giving Raziel a bath; which involved cleaning his teeth and polishing his scales, something Sora would never have the patience to do. "And I'm surprised you're not hunting something. Any missions that need you immediate attention, crazy lazy lady?"

Sora laughed as Anko stole his dumpling, in retaliation of him eating two of hers. "No one steals my dumplings. No one!" Sora chuckled and shoved his plate toward her, not able to swallow anything besides water and some of the herbs that Ivy still fed him. Anko seemed surprised but pleased to have another plate shoved below her nose, finishing her own plate in seconds so she could start with his. "Not hungry?" Though her tone suggested sympathy her eyes flashed dangerously when he looked at the plate he'd given her. "Not really, but I suppose I could eat a bite..." Much to her disgust he took a dumpling and ate it, taking another before she could stop him.

Sora walked through the streets of the Leaf, nodding his head to the people who he recognised from the Chūnin exam. But for the most part he avoided engaging in a conversation, having a place to go. 'He's always late but when I'm late he beats me, hypocrite.' He reached the training ground just in time to see Kakashi appear in the centre of the field, an Icha Icha novel clutched in his hands, which he read with obvious delight. Sora trudged up and Kakashi looked up from his book and set it aside with obvious dislike. "Alright, let's get down to it." And like the day before Kakashi had Sora copy his movements with his Sharingan, pushing his body's speed and endurance in an attempt to increase his stamina and speed. "The chidori is dependent on speed, the faster you go the stronger it becomes. When I trained Sasuke I had him punch holes in boulders to see if he was progressing. He got far in just a month, and he'd surpassed me in the last two years. To help you..." Two puffs of smoke behind Akashi cut off what he was about to say next, two shinobi that looking shockingly alike with their green track suits and orange leg warmers. "Kakashi, we're not late are we?" The older man, who looked about the same age as Kakashi spoke, his bushy brows bobbling as he frowned.

Sora watched in amusement as Kakashi and Guy argued, Guy's hippy comments a stark contrast to Kakashi's blunt ones. Beside Guy there stood a boy Sora had met before but hadn't actually spoken to: Rock Lee. Sora knew why Kakashi had brought Guy and Lee to the training field, they both used massive burst of strength and speed to fight. When there was a gap in the conversation Kakashi shot Sora and Lee a sideways glance and smiled a cheery smile, his eye closing. "Lee, can you take Sora to the mountains and teach him how to move like you do. But...don't kill him, he's not like you." Lee, his chest puffing out like a rooster's, fist pumped and Sora could almost see twin fires of determination burning in his eyes. "You can count on me. Kakashi-sensei! I'll have him move like me before the week is done! No, in five days! No, two days!" Guy smiled at Lee and his smile twinkled, a fire like Lee's burning deep in his eyes. "That's the spirit Lee! Show him how great a teacher you can be!"

Sora sighed as Lee beamed, meeting Kakashi's gaze as Lee and Guy carried on like a squirrel on speed. Interupting them Kakashi reminded Lee of the task at hand. "I've already cleared your missions for the next week so you can focus on training. Lee...don't kill Sora. I won't be able to stop Sakura and Ino from finding and dealing with you as they please. Then there's Kairi. Ohhh, I wouldn't want to be the poor guy who gives Sora trouble. Then there's Ivy..." Cutting off with a shiver Kakashi returned to his conversation with Guy.

Sora trailed behind Lee, using his Sharingan to copy Lee's movements as best he could. They had been on the mountain Kakashi had told Lee to take him to for two days and already Sora could feel his body become stronger, faster, more enduring. For the past two days Lee had been fighting with him, only stopping to sleep, eat, rest and otherwise take care of their bodies needs. Sora was tired, his arms and legs were sore from where he'd blocked Lee's blows and Lee looked none the worse for wear. In fact he looked better than he'd looked when they had first met, his face was empty of all stress and worry, instead concentrating on the situation at hand. Sora was advancing farther than Lee could have hoped, able to see all of Lee's movements and move accordingly to block or dodge the blows that would have struck him but a day ago.

Sora quickly realised why the Sharingan was coveted above most any Kekkei Genkai, the ability it gave to copy any movement or skill was invaluable. Sora also knew that his Sharingan was still raw and uncontrolled, not nearly as strong or fast as Kakashi or Itachi's. And that made him feel excited about when his Sharingan was finally completed, when three tomoe adorned his eyes and he could follow any taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu. He also knew that he was very close to reaching three tomoe, his existing tomoe already positioned in such a way that they would barely move to make room for the third, final tomoe that would declare him a master to all around him.

He dodged Lee's kick and lashed out with his fist, using Lee's technique to make his blows stronger and more damaging. 'Strong Fist!' He barely had to reach for the jutsu, his body already accustomed to using Strong Fist. And for the first time, the very first time, his blow connected, forcing an 'oomph' from Lee as he drove his fist into Lee's gut. But he should have known better to go in for another blow, Lee was faster than he was, and speed was their battle. He went in for another punch but Lee was gone in a blur of movement, movement he could follow but couldn't react against. He felt something break against his back, or was that his spine?, and he was thrown forward, into the clutch of boulders he'd tried to send Lee through. When the pain subsided long enough he stood up, pushing the boulder from his chest. And with a smile that showed how determined he was to master Lee's technique he ran forward, his own movement almost lost to him in the burst of speed.

Kairi was bored and, even though she was loathe to admit it, sad. It had been two weeks since she'd last seen Sora, then again it had been weeks since she'd seen any of the Genin who were advancing to the third stage of the Chūnin test. Most Genin in the test had gone training, taking family, friends, mentors and rivals with them, leaving the Leaf a hollow husk compared to when Kairi had first arrived. "Sora's training with Kakashi. Supposedly at least. All special training Kakashi's doing is learning to hide his blush when I ask him how his Icha Icha is coming along. And he sucks, he's still stumbling and blushing before he makes a lame excuse to get away." Kairi was also slowly losing her mind, and this she agreed wholeheartedly, because she was at the moment talking to Raziel. It would have made since if the snake had been awake, even though talking to animals would still get her booked into a padded cell, but the snake was asleep. Asleep after a long night away hunting geese. 'What snake eats duck anyway? Aren't ducks bony and hard to catch?' As if to prove her insanity she smiled, thinking of the previous night, smiling for no particular reason. Insanity, check.

Kairi had been training late last night, the day long gone and dawn six or seven hours away when she saw Raziel sliding out of the bushes. She had thought to greet the snake but she had come to know what he looked like when he was hunting. His normally green eyes would turn black as pitch, his normally bright eyes dark with the instinct to kill and feed. So she'd followed him, masking her presence in a great cloud of mist that Kakashi had taught her to use. She had followed Raziel to a still forest pool, swans and other mighty birds nesting on the banks and a single white swan floating on the mirror-like pool. Raziel had bypassed this pool, she could see that he enjoyed the silence and the purity of the scenery, and headed into the brush thirty or forty feet away, to another pond, this one filthy and smelling of decay. Here Raziel had killed a dozen or so geese with a quick lash of his tail and a mental attack that Kairi could feel. And then he'd gone about the time consuming process of swallowing his dinner, going faster than he normally would for the simple fact that his head was almost the same size as one of the geese, making the dead birds easy to swallow. Though it disgusted her to see how Raziel went about his natural way of living she had stayed, slinking out of the mist and into Raziel's line of sight, Raziel blinking lazily at her in greeting. When Raziel had finished feeding he'd gone back to the silent pool and had lain down next to a white swan, the swan making no attempt to scare Raziel away from her nest. Which had told her that Raziel came there regularly, maybe even had his nest somewhere close by. Though her mind had been a maelstrom of sadness and impatience Kairi had appreciated the silence, the beautiful swan that had come to lay his head next to her hand. Then she had felt utter peace, becoming a part of the world around her, claiming her birthright as her own. A keyblade master who was a Princess of Heart, one who should never dabble with Darkness embracing the Darkness of the utter peace around her to let her inner Light blossom and make her what she was destined to be.

Kairi blinked and looked down, one of Raziel's eyes fixed on her in curiosity. Then she realised that she'd been scratching the scales along his bony nose, and that she had stopped when her memory had become just that, a memory. She gave him an apologising scratch before she stood up, the patch of sunlight they sat in suddenly cold as the sun was obscured by the clouds high above.

Before long Kairi went to look for something to do, the Leaf almost completely silent as the sun reached its peak high in the sky. Before long she chanced upon Ino, who was busy wrapping a bouquet for a client, and resigned herself to take in the sweet smell of the flowers. Before long Ino's customer was satisfied with her flowers and left, leaving Kairi and Ino alone in the small store. "Anything you like?" Casting her eyes toward Ino Kairi smiled, the blond girl leaning over the counter with one hand on the counter and the other holding a long-stemmed Arctic Ice in the other, sniffing the ice-blue rose with a heavy-lidded eyes. Kairi had gotten quite close to Ino, as they shared many of the Sam interests. One example was plants and anything to do with flowers and another example was Sora. Yes, Kairi could get hissy when Ino started lusting after Sora but otherwise they were quite happy-go-lucky. "No, just looking." Ino shrugged, not really surprised, for Kairi liked being around flowers and their sweet scent when she was sad. "Anything I can do?" Kairi shook her head, already feeling better.

Later, when the sun was hovering like a bloody eye above the western horizon Kairi slid into the chair beside Sakura, Sakura's friends all around them. The rest of the day slipped through Kairi fingers as she let the merriment and joy of her company overwhelm her, only aware that she was laughing more than she had in weeks and that her heart was a hollow husk feeding on her joy.

Sora lowered his hand, the hole in the boulder in front of him still smoking from his latest attempt. Standing on a boulder behind and above him Kakashi made an annoyed noise. "Again. And keep your arm straight." With a grunt of exhaustion Sora jumped back, settling down on the spot that was already black with his repeated attempts to perfect his chidori. Though he could gather the necessary chakra easily enough maintaining the chakra was the problem, whenever he lost focus or something unexpected happened the jutsu was lost, taking the full amount the chidori would have taken with it. Kakashi had commented more than once that Sora had a vast amount of chakra, which allowed him to use the chidori eight or nine times with barely a tinge of exhaustion tainting his vision. When his chakra was depleted, however, he could force a single chidori, a chidori that was weaker but faster than any other, a chidori that fed from his hate and rage. This chidori Sora feared, for his lightning would turn a pure black without the tint of blue, a chidori that stripped his hand of skin and left his arm numb with pain.

Sora lowered his hand and clenched his right wrist with his left hand, the chakra already gathering. With barely a wisp of sound his chidori burst into life, the silence broken by the insistent chirping the lightning chakra made. Running forward with his new speed that sapped the fire from his limbs Sora stuck his hand out and punched a hole into the boulder, his chidori fading a second later. "Better, but not perfect." Looking behind him Sora saw Kakashi look up from his latest Icha Icha, the normal gleam in his eye making Sora fake puking. "If you're so great why don't you just show me again so I can copy it?" A sigh was his only reply.

Kakashi watched as Sora gathered his chakra, his chidori forming faster than what Kakashi thought should be possible for a novice. 'If only you knew.' And he was certain Sora was still oblivious. He always was when it came to matters of such importance. 'He still doesn't realise he's not using chidori. He's using something else, something darker. The Lightning Edge was designed to protect those you care about, not for the use in war or even for fun. But his chidori is destructive, he doesn't even realise what power he has.' Sora's hand plunged into the boulder and Sora yanked it out a second later, taking his position again and charging again, not even asking Kakashi's opinion anymore. 'I can't do what he does, his control is far better than mine. I should be copying him, not the other way around.'

Kakashi smacked himself, scolding himself for being stupid. He closed his right eye and revealed his left, his Sharingan taking in what it saw. 'Better control and a longer yet thinner edge to the stab. Made for slashing and large opponents. My chidori is shorter and broader than his, relying on speed and force to plunge it into the flesh, his slides into the flesh, backward facing edges tearing the flesh as it's removed. He's a genius. At least, a genius compared to Naruto.' But Sora was also clumsy and lazy, only taking a dozen steps to build up enough chakra to punch through the boulder, he also stumbled sometimes, falling over the rocks he'd dislodged from the boulders. 'At least he's learning.' And he was, Sora had been training with Kakashi for merely a week and he'd gotten farther than Sasuke had in a month. 'But will his progress remain as it is or will it slow?'

Sora sank to the ground, too tired to even straighten his cramped legs. Kakashi stood where he always stood, watching over him like an angel of death. Ever so often Kakashi would comment, but he usually left Sora to do what he saw fit, something Sora still didn't understand. 'It's his jutsu, doesn't he care that I'm changing it?' And he was, instead of the lightning arching toward the ground or into the air it now wrapped around his arm, coating his entire arm in razor sharp bolts of lightning that protected him from injury. It had been almost two weeks since he'd started training under Kakashi, his body becoming more enduring day by day. As the days went by his ability to gather the chakra needed into his hands had increased, taking mere seconds where it had taken minutes before. He'd also stopped grasping his wrist when he gathered his chakra, just clenching his fist before he formed a blade with his hand. He'd also started using his left hand, as the skin on his right was raw and bleeding from the strain of continuously gathering chakra.

Sora sank down to his knees, clutching both his hands to his chest as blood dripped onto the ground, the skin on his hands nonexistent. He waited for a couple minutes and shook the blood from his hands, his skin pale. Though his hands healed within minutes the discomfort of pain refused to fade, because the damage to his chakra system healed at its own pace. He gathered the chakra needed and watched in fascination as his black chidori formed, the chidori he feared. The black lightning arched and whipped across his face, the welts remaining there for hours or even days. He ran forward, knowing that he'd pass out when he used chidori. He stabbed his hand forward and the boulder split in half, the black arcs the lightning made breaking the stone in dozens of different places.

He stood panting in front of the boulder and his chidori faded, taking the last dregs of his chakra with it. He fell backward and struck his head upon a rock, his vision fading to black. And behind him Kakashi walked, his footsteps slow and rhythmic. "Perfect. At last, it's complete. The Shadowbolt is complete." Sora felt the urge to ask Kakashi what a Shadowbolt was but the rocks beneath him turned to clouds and day faded to night as his eyes closed, sleep taking him in its sweet embrace.

Kairi used the seals necessary and watched with concentration as the huge wave rose, hovering above her head. 'Water style: Water dragon blast skill.' The water above her started to spin and take the form of a dragon, which she sent toward a target she'd set up at the other side of the lake. When the snout of the dragon touched the log that acted as her target it spun its body so it was wrapped around the log, its snout beside it tail. With a loud splat the dragon exploded outward, the water that made up its body raining down on her, dripping back into the lake and surrounding area.

A throat being loudly cleared made Kairi spin around, seeing Lee leaning on a tree a couple feet away. In her focus she hadn't heard or felt him approach, but she was sure that it was within his ability to make no sound. He still wore his scarf, and the bands of leather on his left arm had gotten wider, covering his entire forearm before a glove's lip passed over it. "What do you want Lee?" She made sure to add a certain amount of hostility into her voice, though she bore him no ill will. He just shrugged her off. "I don't see why you're doing that." Kairi narrowed her eyes when Lee pointed at the log she'd been using as target practice. "Why not?" He shook his head and brought his scarf down, smiling at her with white teeth. "The final test is in a arena, no water. Trees, sure, earth yes, water no. If you're trying to train for the finals you need to train with jutsu that doesn't take a large amount of water, otherwise it'll just waste chakra, like you found out against the Hyuuga."

Kairi blinked, surprised that Lee was looking out for her and blinked again when she realised he was right. "Why are you helping me?" Lee shrugged again, and a scar showed on his left shoulder, a scar that looked like a star. "Your boyfriend taught me a lesson I won't soon forget. I need to pay him back, he is nowhere to be found so I decided to help you." Kairi stiffened when Lee walked forward, a kunai in his left hand. "What are you doing Lee?" His chuckle made her stiffen even more, the cold seriousness of the chuckle making her stiffen. "My Kekkei Genkai is not unique, many in the Mist share it. So I have decided to share it with you, to gift you with my Kekkei Genkai."

Kairi watched in shock as Lee cut his palm, blood oozing through his fingers. Kairi felt a surge of chakra flow into Lee's hand and a silvery mist enveloped his hand. He cast seals of binding and moulding, changing and acceptance. With a motion almost lost to her Lee put his hand over Kairi's pounding heart. Kairi gasped as a chilly warmth flowed from Lee into her, flowing into her like water into a desert, her chakra taking Lee's Kekkei Genkai into itself, changing it so that it was acceptable. When Kairi was sure she'd start to shiver in cold Lee moved away, a weary smile on his face. A deathly whiteness had crept over his features, his eyes dull and empty as he regarded her. "My gift, to you." And he walked away, a few disjointed memories of him doing the same thing before going to train flowing through Kairi's mind.

Kairi sat still, her eyes closed and her breathing slow and deep, meditating. And through her mind and body Lee's experience flowed, his knowledge becoming her own. Though she tried to ignore any solid experiences he'd had as a person she couldn't help but learn more about Lee. That he wore his scarf in mourning of his sister and mother, both killed in the Third Shinobi World War, that he bore his arrogance as a way to prevent any to see the sadness that he always carried with him. That he had carved a wound into his arm so he would always remember that which is important in life. That he'd grown up in the shadow of Zabuza Momochi, that he'd been groomed and cherished in preparation for the day he could kill Zabuza and take up his blade. That when the time had come he'd ran, the fear Zabuza instilled in him making him cry and freeze, how Zabuza had impaled him with Kubikiribōchō, how the blade had drank his blood. But he had lived, his fear turning to hate and rage, striking out at Zabuza with all the power he had, impaling Zabuza with his own blade. Zabuza sparing his life, saying that he would overcome him very soon. How Lee had mourned Zabuza, how he had stood in front of Zabuza's grave and mourned his greatest enemy, mourning a man he could not kill. How he had taken Kubikiribōchō from Zabuza's very grave but leaving the blade behind, leaving it as a scar upon the world, a scar that would always remain on Lee's soul.

Kairi stood up, wiping the tears running down her face away with the back of her hands, the salty water clinging to her skin. In fascination she did what her body now remembered how to do, to take command of her power and take up the water, wind, and lightning around her. A drop fell on her nose and she looked up, a cloudless rain streaming down around her.

In the shadows, a figure stirred, his scarf once more covering his face. Smiling an invisible smile he turned on his heel and walked away, his final task complete. As his body faded into the air, carried upon the wind and rain, he remembered a life filled with blood and tears. 'I am content.' And he was, he was finally immortal. Not immortal in body like some shinobi devoted their entire lives to become but immortal in memory. As long as he remained within Kairi and those she gave his most singular power too he was immortal.

Kairi stirred, another memory surging through her. A memory of joy, one of the few memories of joy Lee had lived, a memory of where he ran though a field chasing his sister, her face bright with a smile that bespoke her love. But the memory faded mid-smile, sleep dragging Kairi down.

**Review! Please?**


	23. Uchiha successor

**Next chapter: Uchiha successor **

**Next chapter's the last one. Finally, I'm done...At least until I finish Darkness in Eternal. That's gonna even longer! Yay for you and Nay for me. You just have to read it, I need to write it and mutilate it to make it more readable. And after that...**

**Screw it, I haven't decided if I'm gonna make a fifth.**

Ivy got out of bed, nightmares keeping her from enjoying her rest. She dressed in her most comfortable clothes and went for a walk. The few sentries who saw her nodded in her direction before resuming watching over the surrounding area for any who wish their charge harm. Their charge being the village and all those who dwelled within it. Ivy stepped onto a rock and used it as a platform, jumping lightly from stone to tree to pole to building. Before long she had wandered far, dawn's warm light falling upon her face. Before long Raziel joined her, sensing his mistress was uneasy. He reared his body off the ground and laid his heavy stare upon her, his stare chasing her fears and angers away. She reached out with her hand and stroked his bony nose, feeling his scales sharp and smooth against her skin. Already he was larger, he'd grown a foot or so since the day she'd first laid eyes upon him. She knew he would continue to grow until he would tower over most buildings, his fangs larger than most men and his plates larger than buckler shields. For that was the fate of those like him, like Manda, to grow larger and larger until they could crush a mountain with their strength. But until that time came he would continue to follow her wherever she went, into battle or into a party.

Ivy watched the sun rise with Raziel beside her, her blue eyes lighter in the sunlight while Raziel's were like holly leaves. All around her the creatures stirred, some off to bed and others off to start another day. All was peaceful, all was blissful, but Ivy was empty, her mind a mountain pool undisturbed by time, reflecting what was around her. And what was around her was life. And though she was used to a life where death was expected, she felt alive.

Kairi smiled, looking up at the crowd that had flooded into the stadium mere minutes ago. One booth in particular held her attention, the Kage booth. Already, three of the five had arrived but she couldn't tell which, since she hadn't paid attention when Iruka had talked about the specific colour associated with the Kage. She did recognise Tsunade, a robe covering her form with a hat covering her head, dark red the colour that set them apart. But Botan hissed at her and she remembered what he'd said, to let the whole crowd see her face, not just the Kage. All around her stood the Genin who'd passed the preliminaries, only two missing. Namely Sora and Gabriella. Sora was always late, a habit that had only worsened the longer he stayed around Kakashi, but Gabriella wasn't someone who Kairi though would be late. And she was right, the girl came in through the gate Kairi herself had walked through a few minutes ago, her arms bare and her hair tied back with a band. Her hair was longer than Kairi remembered, framing her cheeks and the rest just touching her shoulder blades. Instead of the pale gold it had been a mere month ago it was now darker, the colour of tainted gold. She shot Kairi a smiling glance and went to stand beside Ivy, the Genin in between hiding her from Kairi's sight. She cast her eyes outward, searching for her love. 'Where is he?'

Sora gave Kakashi a droll stare and snorted, almost humiliated at the turn of events. Kakashi held a shirt up, a dark blue shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back and collar. Sora already wore black pants with black bandages ensuring that his pants didn't flap wildly as he ran or fought. He had a bracelet on that concealed the seal that would summon his kunai and shuriken. Even though he rarely cared about what he wore this one moment in time was an exception, it was the Chūnin exams final, he had to look his best, even if it was only to fight. To make matters worse Itachi was beside Kakashi, his intense gaze running up and down Sora's body. Itachi had found them the previous day, his tent in a duffel bag and a red cloak hiding him from view, the hood hanging low over his face. "You have every right to bear the Uchiha crest. You have proven yourself time and time again, using Great Fire Annihilation proved that you are a true Uchiha successor. Wear it with pride, you have our eyes and our pride, and our fire burns within you." Sighing Sora held out his hand, Kakashi throwing the shirt toward him. Taking off the torn and dirty shirt he wore now he walked to the river, intent on washing the filth from his limbs.

Ten minutes later Sora was dressed and ready, the Uchiha crest on his back and their fire burning in his eyes. Itachi regarded him with interest but said nothing. "What is it? Staring at me won't tell you what I know." Itachi smiled a small smile and shrugged. "You look like one of us, all you need now is our hatred and you would be an Uchiha in full." At this Sora remained silent, not knowing what to say. So he just shrugged and strapped his cloak around him, the heavy fabric dragging in the dirt. Kakashi regarded his and gave a quick nod. "Let's go."

Sora ran beside Itachi, the older man looking ahead in what looked like worry. "Think I'm going to fail?" Itachi shot him a side-ward glance and looked forward. "All you have to lose is you pride and your life. A test like this matters little. But no, I'm more concerned about what the Leaf would do when I appear beside you." Sora looked at Itachi and stayed silent, worry gnawing at his stomach. "You can send a crow ahead to see if the coast is clear." At this Itachi threw back his head and laughed, a sound that echoed around them. "I already have hundreds of crows inside the Leaf. How do you think I've stayed alive as long as I have, in a manner of speaking of course?" A shrug gave Itachi all the answers he needed. "I shall depart soon, the Leaf shall try and dispose of me when they lay eyes on me. And I do not wish to fight the people I died for." From in front Kakashi looked at them, his body almost completely turned around as he studied them both. "I agree, Itachi must remain hidden, his existence must remain a secret from the majority. Even if we can't keep his being alive quite we must keep his location hidden."

Sora bade Itachi farewell and the older man turned where he was, running away from the village at a much slower pace. He looked ahead and saw the smoke rise from the Leaf, the village still many miles away. "We're gonna be late." Kakashi grunted but gave no answer, running faster instead.

Kairi watched as Ivy walked away, a smile on her face. Instead of taking the stairs, her opponent, Enoki, jumped from where he stood, landing with a thud a second later. Kairi frowned, seeing veins pulse in Enoki's neck and arms, veins she was sure hadn't pulsed when she'd seen him last. Ivy seemed to share her concern when she appeared in the bright sunlight, frowning at Enoki before she looked up, past Kairi and Gabriella, looking into green eyes that glinted in the light from the sun. With an excited hiss Raziel hurried down the stairs, his scales scraping against the concrete with a sound akin to nails dragged down a blackboard.

Ivy smiled as Raziel appeared, his scales glittering like jewels in the sun. He skid to a stop beside her and started hissing at Enoki, baring his fangs. But Enoki just sneered before taking his ready stance, Ivy doing the same. Botan looked at them both and commenced the fight, Raziel shooting forward with a flash of black eyes and glittering scales not even a second later. Enoki remained where he was as Raziel bore down upon him, drawing back his right hand when the snake came within striking distance. As Raziel opened his jaws to clamp down on Enoki's arm Enoki himself seemed to vanish, appearing behind Raziel a second later. Reaching back the shinobi grabbed Raziel around the neck and started to squeeze, boned snapping as Raziel's ribs broke. Instead of growing still like a wounded shinobi, Raziel thrashed all the more, his jaws closing less than an inch from Enoki's face. With a mighty heave Enoki brought his leg up and kicked Raziel, the great serpent flying into a wall on the opposite side of the arena.

Ivy looked back at Raziel, his blood staining her cheek from when he'd sailed passed her, his body broken and disfigured. She raced toward him but Enoki barred her way, arms spread wide to crush the life from her. Instead of shying away like he obviously thought she would she ran faster, moving faster than he could follow. Balling her hands into fists she came to a stop in front of Enoki, her hands coming forward to crash into his chest. With a choked cry Enoki's feet left the ground, crashing into the wall beside Raziel, his chest broken and his blood pouring onto the ground. But when Botan went to see if he wanted to give up Enoki rose to his feet without difficulty and flexed the muscles in his chest, bones popping back into place as he did. The blood pouring from the hole in his chest crusted over and dried, showing skin underneath. With a laugh Enoki stepped from the puddle of blood he stood in and approached Ivy, his arms bulging with muscle he hadn't had a month before.

Ivy screamed in pain as Enoki grabbed her arm, his hands crushing the bones in her arm and tearing muscle. With her other hand she whipped her hand through the air, striking him in the neck with the blade her hand made. Any normal human would have died them, the artery and major vein in his neck bursting, or at least lost consciousness. Enoki did neither, he just laughed again and reached over to grab her other arm. But Ivy wouldn't allow that, she reached into the Darkness of her mind and let her eyes Change, Susanoo's, or so the shinobi claimed, arm forming around her. Susanoo reached toward Ivy and pulled Enoki off his mistress, crushing him in his hand. With a final shake Susanoo threw Enoki, his body broken and bleeding, into the wall. Withdrawing from the power of her eyes Susanoo vanished, Ivy's eyes burning in pain and a thin trail of blood running down her left cheek. But she ignored the pain, running over to Raziel.

What Ivy saw both amazed and enraged her. For Raziel was still alive, choking on his own blood as his bones slowly set back into their original place and his neck gaining its original shape. With a shriek of rage Ivy hadn't thought a snake could make Raziel rose up, his mouth open and black bloodlust shining in his flat black eyes. The bones broken in his neck setting with a sickening crunch Raziel slithered over to Enoki, venom dripping from his gaping jaws. Where his venom dripped a flower grew, flowers that blossomed faster than any flower could. Where larger drops of venom dripped larger plants grew, a small willow here and a rose bush there. But it wasn't the flowers and plants that grew from his venom, it was Raziel himself. His scales glowed with an inner light and he seemed to float as he moved. As Enoki stood once more Raziel struck, his tail slamming into Enoki's side with a sound like a whip striking flesh. But this whip was made of jewels of the best quality, jewels that could sever flesh from bone without any effort. And so it was, when Enoki turned toward them again his side was drenched in blood, though his wounds were healed. And still he laughed, laughing as Raziel cut his to shreds.

But he didn't laugh when Raziel finally bit him, his serrated teeth sinking into his neck and chest with a sharp snick. Then Raziel started to spin, wrapping his body around Enoki as he crushed the life out of the boy's body. But Raziel stopped when Ivy spoke his name. "Raziel." He looked at her with his black eyes and he withdrew his needle teeth, dropping Enoki to the ground when Ivy motioned for him. "My friend. My Raziel." Raziel curled around her and his tongue flicked against her cheek, but his black eyes stayed locked on Enoki all the while.

Against all expectation Enoki rose once more, his body so damaged that Ivy had expected him to be dead, any yet he still rose and he still laughed. He limped toward her as his wounds healed, taking a minute for all the scars to fade away. Then and only then did Ivy loose her cool. The cool that had kept her alive for years, a cool that had remained unfazed when a hundred Behemoth Heartless had charged toward her. With a shriek that sounded inhuman to her own ears Ivy abandoned all style and technique, she fell back on what she had used to punish her parents and the village priest: instinct. She whipped her hand through the air and Darkness rippled around her, feeding her power she had abandoned. She closed her eyes and opened them again, the black marks spreading vertically over her eyes and onto her skin. Susanoo's head and right appeared above her and he wielded his sword, his sword already hacking away at Enoki. But no matter how much he cut and no matter how much he raged Susanoo could not kill his victim, Enoki roaring with laughter all the while.

Ivy finally grew tired of Susanoo trying to kill Enoki, deciding to kill him herself. Her eyes changed to their normal blue and she delved herself into the flood of chakra within her, her Fey blood providing her the means and her daemon blood giving her the strength. She started using the seals she though most effective, seals that hadn't been used since the First Hokage. "Wood style: Forest of living boughs!" Ivy briefly thought that her body would die from the way her chakra dropped into nothingness but she held on, the jutsu already taking effect. Casting her eyes upward Ivy met Tsunade's astonished gaze. She knew that Tsunade was amazed that she would attempt her grandfather's jutsu but she was also amazed that she could.

The trees in the stadium rose from their place of resting and moved toward them on roots longer than they were tall, their roots and branched wrapping around Enoki in an embrace more intimate than any two lover's. When he was well and truly secured Ivy jumped onto the tallest tree, looking down at Enoki. He was horizontal to the ground, his arms and legs wrapped in roots and his head held still with two boughs as thick around as her chest. And high above the world she used the seals she knew would end it. 'Wind style: Dragon head blade.' Stepping from the branch she fell toward the ground, and Enoki. And true to the name her jutsu took the form of a dragon head, wind flames forming a writhing blade of cold flames sharp enough to cut anything. When she reached Enoki she slashed downward and dropped to the ground, the trees moving away to let her pass. The tree dropped Enoki and went back to their resting place, their task complete.

Ivy walked over to Enoki with Botan, both of them examining what Ivy's jutsu had done. The sight almost made Ivy puke. Enoki was bleeding, bleeding along every chakra coil within his body, the coils having exploded when Ivy had used her jutsu. 'That's why it's forbidden. Even if you miss the air around you strikes at your target, and even the slightest touch means death.' She bowed her head, sad that she'd killed an innocent just so that she could win a stupid fight. But her head snapped up when a hand grasped her ankle, a hand that crushed her bones and threatened to rip her leg off. With a sick choke Ivy looked down, Enoki still looking up at her with laughter in his eyes. 'But he's dead. He can't still be alive, it's impossible.' But it wasn't, his eyes were wide but clear, his mouth working to release the mad laughter. With a shout she raised her leg and stomped down with her full might, Enoki's brains splattering her boots.

Telling herself that Enoki was dead Ivy turned and walked away, the gore marring her boot forgotten. She looked up, the crowd silent for the first time. And then she knew, their match had been one you would only see in war, not in a fight designed to test your abilities. A heavy footfall made her look back, Enoki walking back toward her, his head forming from what looked like strips of fleshy paper. It was only then that she saw the black sclera, the cracked skin, the signs of Impure World Resurrection. With a shout that bespoke her regret Ivy closed her right eye, blood splattering her left cheek as a wave of red fire engulfed Enoki, his screams mingling with his laughter. When the laughter failed to stop Ivy gave a cry and sank down onto her knees, tears joining the blood on her cheeks. But her left eye remained focused on the inferno that was Enoki, feeding the fire with her blood. The fire burned hotter, brighter, until it was so hot and so all consuming that Enoki stopped laughing, Susanoo's sword and hand forming around her as she cried. Stabbing Enoki with his sword Susanoo mourned along with her, his cries hollow on account of his armour. But Enoki was trapped within Susanoo's sword, the sword of Totsuka some called it. Enoki faded away, the fire that consumed him dying as Ivy released her hold.

Ivy stood up, her legs wobbling as she made her way across the stadium, hugging herself as she cried. Susanoo faded away, Enoki sealed away. Somewhere behind her Botan called her victor by death. But she let it go, willing to be declared a murderer if Enoki was freed from his curse. Throwing back her head Ivy pointed at the five Kage, their eyes heavy upon her. "Is this what you want! The pain, the suffering, is this all a game to you! How dare you sit there doing nothing but stare! I killed him, and I accept that! But his death is upon your heads, not mine!" And with a disgusted scream Ivy walked back up the stairs, the next contestant walking past her.

Kairi watched as Ivy walked past, the shinobi in her way bowing their heads as she passed them. She sank down in a darkened corner and Kairi went to her, Raziel already rubbing his great head against her side. When she was close enough Kairi could see the tears. For Ivy was sobbing, her face hidden from everyone except Raziel and Kairi. Sinking down onto the ground beside her Kairi wrapped her arms around Ivy, the matches the Genin fought below lost to her as Ivy sobbed.

Kairi looked up when her name was called, her opponent the one that had won against Yaksha. "Iwashi." She had seen Iwashi fight, he relied on taijutsu before falling back on ninjutsu but never used any genjutsu. He was faster than she had been month ago, but she was faster now, and stronger, and she could fight for longer. She gave Ivy's shoulders another squeeze before standing up, jumping when she reached the banister. Landing on the ground she walked over to Botan and Iwashi, who was looking at her with longing in his eyes. Botan commenced the fight and Iwashi ran forward, casting Water Clones all the while. Before long she was surrounded, two dozen clones around her with Iwashi in their midst. She turned around tried to find the real one, but each one looked at her in sick triumph.

Kairi jumped, a needle cutting her arm and one imbedding itself in her shoulder. She landed lightly on her feet and another needle cut her, the needles already sticking out of her burning. She knew that she would die soon, Iwashi's clones surrounded her and no matter how many she destroyed another seemed to take its place. She also knew that she could beat him if she had time to come up with a plan. Time she didn't have. 'I do have one advantage, that's a good thing.' For Iwashi's clones wouldn't come near her, only striking from a distance. And that she could exploit. Crouching down low she used a quick jutsu and a mist spewed from underneath her, blanketing the area in seconds. 'Hidden Mist Skill.' Like she expected all the clones in the mist retreated, as they were afraid of what she could do. Before they could run in together she smiled a small smile and used a single seal. She smiled when she heard the cries of clones being destroyed reached her ears. 'Shadow clones really are fun. Much more fun than water clones.'

Kairi sat back on her heels and started using her Kekkei Genkai, the Kekkei Genkai Lee had given her. Instead of using all three elements she used water and wind, drawing direct moisture from the air and the ground. She widened the cloud of mist until it enveloped the entire stadium, and then she started using lightning as well. A flash of light above let her know that the rain was about to begin, and it did. A downpour fell on the field, the mist vanishing as the moisture within was absorbed by the rain. When the mist was completely cleared only seven water clones remained, Kairi's own shadow clones gone. Kairi rose to her feet, standing on the lake the stadium had become.

Kairi turned her head, the water clone trying to circle her stopping as she did. She'd already destroyed one, a quick kick to the head. But instead of giving her an advantage it had cost her, Iwaki was more wary, retreating before Kairi could come close. 'Taijutsu is out. Ninjutsu...Likely.' Using the seals needed she drew upon her new Kekkei Genkai, lightning forming in her hand. 'Lightning style: shadow clone.' Six clones appeared from the lightning, already running toward the six remaining water clones.

Watching her clones run Kairi jumped onto a passing branch, making sure to stay out of the water. Though the six remaining water clones tried to destroy Kairi's they evaded, until they got close enough to touch. And thus they remained, dodging all attacks but not attacking themselves. Kairi closed her eyes. "Great clone explosion." Her chakra drained away, a wind brushing her face as all her clones exploded. They were made of lightning so they electrocuted everything around them, and as they were near the water clones and Iwashi...

A scream made Kairi open her eyes, a lone scream inside the stadium. And there he was, the real Iwashi dropping into the water to her right, pain making him lose his focus, which made the chakra holding him above the water fail. As he sank into the water Kairi looked down, the water crystal clear. Already Iwashi was forming seals, but Kairi was faster. Just as a clouded water dragon approached Kairi had already used something else, something fiendish. 'Water style: water current destruction.' Destruction it was, Kairi's chakra drained away and Iwashi was yanked downward into the ground by a sudden violent current. And he was continually whipped around by the current, dashing into rocks and trees, the ground and Kairi's foot when she brought him upward for a kick across the chest. By the time she was done Iwashi was a lifeless puppet, out cold.

The water she had summoned draining away Kairi stepped onto damp soil, Iwashi in front of her. Seemingly out of nowhere Botan appeared. He walked over to Iwashi and asked for a response, finding none he declared Kairi the winner.

And thus the day wore on, match after match with no sigh of either Sora or Kakashi. Gabriella's match went smoothly, her skills seeming to improve like her appearance, and she was looking awesome, she'd taken Sora's advice, letting her hair grow out made her prettier and more elegant. She had knocked her opponent out after she'd restrained him with cleverly concealed sublime snake hands jutsu.

Before long all the matches except Sora's was over and done with, the crowd waiting for the next match just as Kairi was. Not even a minute after Botan declared that the last contestants would arrive slowly Tsunade had arrived with the other Kage, her ridiculous hat gone but the robe tragically present. Her robe rustling madly she pointed at Kairi and told everyone to get out, except the other Kage and Ivy, who left sneering after Tsunade. Casting Ivy a despairing glance Tsunade sat down at the corner of a table, the other Kage around her. To Kairi's surprise one was a boy no older than her, light blue eyes surrounded by shadows, his face pale and his mouth set. Turning to Tsunade the boy, Kazekage Gaara looked at her. "This is his lover? If she is here, why is he not?" Kairi blushed but Gaara didn't, his tone as blunt as a grain of sand. Tsunade raised a brow at him but she looked at Kairi questioningly. "Where is he, Kairi?"

Kairi sighed, rather sick that Tsunade expected her to know where Sora was. "How the hell should I know? I'm not his mother! You're the Hokage, find out." When the still-unnamed Kage looked at Kairi with dark, threatening eyes she looked at them with a glare that bespoke her contemp. But Tsunade just smiled at her fellow Kage before shooting Kairi a hidden, not very well, desperate glance. "Please Kairi? Can't you, with your infinite gentle love, tell us where he is?" This time Kairi didn't snort like a spoiled brat, she just looked at Tsunade with gentle eyes before turning away, her eyes scanning the horizon. "Raziel! Where is he?" In the corner Ivy had so recently occupied Raziel hissed, not in displeasure but help. He slithered toward them and rose beside Kairi, his body wrapping around the railing as he stared at her with one, big green, eye. He blinked slowly before he raised his bony snout to the breath of wind that was blowing, his tongue tasting the air. He hissed and Kairi smiled, his head motioning toward where his scent was strongest.

She turned back toward the Kage and smiled, their expressions blank while they stared at her. "He's coming, how long it will take him to get here I don't know but he's coming. How far away he is I don't know either, I can't feel him like Ivy can." A short laugh came from the doorway, Ivy herself looking at them with crossed arms. "Idiots, he's here." Looking as if she wanted nothing better than to slap, or punch, Ivy Tsunade moved toward her, her hands clutching Ivy's shoulders tightly. "Here? I don't see him, do you?" Tsunade's voice was soft, reasonable, as if she Ivy was a mere child who needed the rules of etiquette beaten into her. "I am not a child, Tsunade Hokage, granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, Shodai Hokage. You have not the right to lecture me, I am responsible for my actions, but are you responsible for your own?" At this Tsunade couldn't answer, for Ivy's voice had gotten deep and dark, reminding Kairi of when Nyx spoke. Instead of waiting for an answer Ivy smiled, pointing toward the stadium below. "And I do see him, he has been in the Leaf for eight minutes, Kakashi has been leading him. And like always Kakashi had to make an entrance, which he has."

Sora had indeed arrived, late in the extreme but still in time. He looked up at the crowd, seeing the many faces regard him with curiosity. Botan walked toward them and Kakashi left, joining Kairi where she stood. He looked at her and let a small smile touch his lips, watching her smile in return. Raising his right hand he touched the first two fingers of his right hand to his lips before holding them out toward her. Her greeting warmed him, mirroring his own. But now wasn't the time to beg forgiveness, his opponent was arriving and he needed to focus. He flexed his right hand and smiled, feeling the stiffness melt away in anticipation. Looking down he examined his arms, the black marks his chidori had burned into his skin looking like bolts of lightning. And they were, they had been burned into his skin, burned with hundreds of chidori used.

Sora faced his opponent, a Sand with four hilts protruding over his left shoulder, two more blades thrust through his rope belt. Botan commenced the match and Zaku, the Sand, drew the first blade from his back, a leaf shaped short sword with a current of wind running over the blade. With a twirl that seemed more a show than anything else Zaku slashed toward Sora, completely out of range of any kenjutsu attack. But a strange tugging at his arm made Sora look down, a drop of blood beading on his skin from a gash an inch wide. Looking back Sora watched as Zaku swung again, his chakra blade slashing through the air. 'He's using wind chakra to cut me. That's not good, but it's not bad either.' Drawing in a breath Sora looked at Zaku and used the necessary seals. 'Fire style: Great fireball.' Opening his mouth he let out a ball of flame, adapt enough to forgo the extra control using his hand gave.

Sora watched in fascination as his fireball traced an intricate pattern in the air before vanishing in a cloud of smoke. 'This is so gonna hurt.' For Zaku's sword had an incredible range and breadth, anything close to fifty feet was an easy target and anything wider than five feet wasn't safe from the edge. But it wasn't very thick, only a hairs-breadth thick, which meant only a master could use it with any precision. 'But anyone can hack a body to bloody pieces, and I'm just a body.' And so he was, for not even a second after he though this Zaku slashed open his cheek and shoulder, neither cut very deep but both painful. 'At least I have an advantage.' And he did, fire was strengthened by wind, just as lightning was made stronger by earth. But earth beat fire and wind beat lightning. 'We're even, that at least, I know.'

Sora jumped, knowing that he couldn't get out of range of Zaku's blade. To his dismay and Zaku's evident joy, and the crowds, Zaku had drawn another sword, this one with a shorter range but a wider blade. 'Fire style: Mythic fire flower.' A burst of small flames flew out of Sora's mouth and one by one they died against the wind blade's guard, only one scorching Zaku's arm. 'At least he has a weak spot.' And he did, for he couldn't cross his blades for whatever reason, resorting to cutting the flames in half as they came toward him. Sora jumped again, earning a cut on the leg in reward for dodging the blade speeding toward his neck.

Sora sank down to the ground, sliding underneath Zaku's attack and jumped when he was close enough, running with his new speed until he was close enough to strike. He drew back his fist and punched, his punch striking metal but forcing Zaku back nonetheless. He skid to the side and ran forward again, kicking Zaku in the side before sliding away again. Before he could recover Sora drew in a deep breath and used the seals. 'Fire style: Great Dragon fire technique.' A soaring dragon sped toward Zaku from a small tail of flame that burned in Sora's hand, slamming into Zaku before exploding.

Sora watched as the dust cleared, watching in disbelief as Zaku walked forward, waving his hand in front of his face to get rid of the smoke. His one sword lay on the ground beside him, the blade bubbling as it melted off into the soil. Sora assumed that Zaku had used it as a shield, sacrificing his weapon in order to walk away without a scratch. Drawing another sword, this one looking like a falchion, Zaku swung again. This time, with the falchion, the damage was visible. The earth tore apart as the blade of wind came toward Sora, a wave of destruction almost six feet wide. Jumping to the side Sora cried out in pain, a wave of pain tugging at his leg. But he shook it off, taking out eight kunai and shuriken from the weapons pouch tied around his waist.

Sora finally did the inevitable, he used his chidori. The bolt of lightning formed in his hand and Zaku stared at him, his two swords forgotten in his surprise. Sora jumped back, wanting to move as fast as possible if he wanted to end it in one blow.

Sora looked down, sitting on the wall, and activated his Sharingan. Kakashi had warned him about using the chidori without his Sharingan, it would force him to run in a straight line and make everything except his target a blur of speed. But the Sharingan counteracted that side-effect, it allowed him to see with perfect clarity everything around him, not just his target.

Starting to run Sora went faster and faster, his training with Lee and Kakashi coming into play, so he reached Zaku in a few seconds. But Zaku was ready, he swung his sword and the ground in Sora's path shattered. But Sora had the Sharingan and so he dodged the blow before Zaku even swung his arm, his right arm aglow with blue light. He could use the normal chidori, though it was more difficult to use the lighter chakra needed, he usually flooded his body with heavy chakra, foul chakra. But the lighter chakra was easier to mould, so it took far less than Sora's black chidori. From what Kakashi had said Sasuke could use the black chidori, but he hadn't since he'd lost his cursed seal.

Sora plunged his arm forward, Zaku raising his sword as he did. Just as before Zaku's sword broke, but the blow seemed too much for the sword to absorb, so Sora's hand slid into Zaku's chest, just a scratch but a hit nonetheless. Jumping back Sora dodged the blow Zaku directed toward his head and skid to the side, a kick forcing Zaku back. With a jump that took him out of range Sora smiled, thinking of a plan. 'He can kill my fire but he can't stop the jutsu.' Forming the seals needed her took a deep breath, his right hand rubbing against the seal on his left wrist. 'Fire style: Mythical fire flower.' Burst of flame sped toward Zaku and Sora watched in anticipation as Zaku did as he usually did, swiping the fire away with a slash from his sword. But this jutsu was different from the others, as Zaku realised a second later. A flash of steel made Sora smile, the shuriken he'd hidden inside his fire sinking into Zaku's flesh.

Sora watched as Zaku ripped the four shuriken from his flesh, already edging toward the right, the one spot he was safe from Zaku's blade. Taking a scroll from his weapons pouch he rolled it out and swung it around, cutting his thumb with the sharp edge of a kunai as he did. Wiping his bleeding thumb over the seal to pay the contract, a puff of smoke coming from the contract as he did, two giant shuriken appeared in his hand. He stowed the scroll back into his pouch and took a shuriken in both hands, spinning them around with a slight twist.

Sora threw his fūma shuriken, the enormous star hurtling through the air. But Zaku was beyond that, he brought his remaining sword up and blocked the blade, the fūma spinning with Sora's chakra fuelling its motion. Sora lowered his hand, tugging at the wire connecting him to the fūma. With a whisper of sound Sora sent a wave of lightning into his shuriken, the shuriken's cutting power doubled. With a cry the fūma shuriken broke Zaku's sword before spinning into his flesh. Sora let go of the wire he held and swung his second fūma shuriken, this one having three strings attached.

The fūma shuriken sped toward Zaku before turning to the side, the wire clenched in Sora's right hand tight while the one in his left loosened, the shuriken winding around Zaku before imbedding itself in his side, a cry forcing a savage smile onto his face. Zaku fell to his knees, coughing as blood poured out of his mouth and stained his dust coloured pants. But other than that he seemed unharmed, his free hand yanking the fūma from his side and from his shoulder, laying his palm over the hole in his shoulder. "Good, but not good enough." Sora stirred at these words, for Zaku hadn't spoken to him before, and his words made Sora look around, certain that a trick had been played. And so it had, Zaku was standing in the shadow of a tree not far away, watching Sora. Whirling around Sora fixed his eyes on the Zaku he'd been fighting, destroying the genjutsu that was muddling his perception. And there it was, Zaku's clone was made of sand, sand pouring from his wounds instead of blood, sandy skin cracking around the many wounds. Disgusted that he'd been fooled Sora yanked on the wire strings still connected to his fūma shuriken, detonating the explosive tags he'd fixed to the blades. In a cloud of fire and smoke the clone vanished from view, sand pouring down around him.

Sora turned, staring at Zaku as the Sand smiled at him, drawing the last blade from his shoulder sheath as he did. This sword was different from the others, but none of them resembled each other except for the nimbus of wind chakra enshrouding the blades. This blade was curved, looking like a miniature cavalry sabre. Zaku swung, a thin wisp of a wind tugging at Sora's hair, cutting a few strands. Another breath of wind touched his cheek, and four others ran over his chest and arms, a cut for each breath. Sora winched, the cuts burning like the blades had been dipped in acid. 'Maybe their poisoned.' But Sora was sure that Zaku wouldn't go to such lengths, besides, how could he be poisoned if the blades hadn't touched his skin? He dismissed the thought as absurd, thinking instead that it was the wind itself that was burning his flesh. Then, like all the previous cuts, his pain numbed. Sora formed the seals needed and took a deep breath, drawing on his foulest chakra to fuel his jutsu. 'Fire style, Great Fire Annihilation.' Sora leaned forward, the hand he used for shaping the jutsu as he wanted close to his mouth.

Like a volcano erupting the fire spewing from Sora's mouth widened the farther it came from his mouth, until it was bathing the entire stadium with a flurry of dancing flames. When he was sure the jutsu was under his control Sora lowered his hand, the fire growing larger without the control it gave. Gasps ran through the crowds cheering, gasps of amazement and awe, as well as a few murmurs of fear.

If Zaku was afraid of the fire he didn't show it, he just dropped both his blades and went about spewing a wall of earth in front of him, taking care to make a sharpened point in front of him to divert the fire away from him. Fire was weak against earth but that wasn't about to stop Sora, he closed his eyes briefly before opening them to their full extent. 'Sharingan!' Controlling his fire with his eyes he made the fire burning the entire area move toward Zaku, the chakra fuelling the fire great and the chakra needed to guide the fire adding another burden for Sora's body to carry. Before he could consider abandoning his attempt at breaking the wall to save his own life Sora had the immense satisfaction of seeing Zaku's wall break, the flash of steel bright against the intense fire. The fire vanished into the afternoon sky as Sora closed his mouth, tired from the massive amount of chakra the jutsu took from him.

Sora waited as the cloud of smoke and vapour drifted into the sky, his eyes straining to see a body amongst burnt and broken trees. But a loud laugh interfered, Zaku walking out of the cloud clutching his two broken blades, his skin burnt and his clothes scorched. But he was unharmed, standing straight with his shoulders squared and his body relaxed. "Good! But I want better. I won't give up and I won't surrender! Kill me if you dare, for that is the only way you shall win this fight. I won't use my blades if you agree not to use your fire. Fire is weak, just as wind is useless."

Sora smiled, satisfied that he finally had a worthy opponent. "As you wish, I will use my true power." Jumping back Sora bared his arms, holding them out to the sides as he threw his head back. He clenched his teeth and opened his eyes, his hands starting to burn as he gathered his chakra. With a sound like thunder striking the ground his hands burst with power, black lightning streaking to the ground. But a chidori wasn't what he wanted, nor was it what Zaku wanted, Zaku wanted his singular technique. He lowered his hands and brought them together, the two bolts of lightning he held becoming one. Holding the pulsing black mass of lightning away from his body Sora crouched like Kakashi would when he gathered the chakra needed to use his Raikiri, holding his hands below him. With a sweeping slash he brought his hand up, four jagged bolts of lightning wrapping around a serrated blade of lightning, thick tendrils of lightning shadowing the marks already burned into his arms. "Ready!" Zaku looked pale, but he nodded and used a series of seals that initiated a summoning. The earth in front of Zaku split and a stone rose up, a white stone the colour of blanched bone. He reached down and wrapped around the stone, pulling a stone spear from the ground. The spearhead looked to be made of black marble, blue veins splattered throughout the stone. "Ready!"

Sora swung his arm, the black lightning bitingly cold against his skin, pointing it toward Zaku. "Shadowbolt!" Sora swung his Shadowbolt again and a small bolt arched toward Zaku, wrapping around his spear before vanishing. Taking heavy steps Sora approached Zaku, the skin on his right arm burning with power. When he was within reach Zaku stabbed toward Sora, who deflected the blow with a flick of his wrist. Zaku stabbed again and Sora felt the oddly warm stone cut a warm line across his chest. He stabbed again and Sora ducked underneath the blow, driving his Shadowbolt into Zaku's gut.

Sora watched as Zaku shook, his lightning shocking him again and again. But he restrained his Shadowbolt's second part, to have the four bolts wrapped around the blade extend outward, ripping his target apart before discharging. Instead he drew his arm back and wretched his arm from Zaku's body, his Shadowbolt vanishing as he did. Stepping back Zaku fell to his knees, his spear broken, and looked down, an astonished smile spreading over his face. "Well done." He closed his eyes before he collapsed, Botan rushing over. "Winner! Sora!"

**Review! Please?**


	24. Tartarus

**Final chapter: Tartarus.**

The crowd roared in excitement and enjoyment, the shinobi cheering along with the normal townsfolk and nobles. But they could just as not have been there for all the mind Kairi gave, staring at Sora as she was. He looked up at her and smiled, his crimson eyes focused on her. She touched the banister in front of her and suddenly she was flying, or rather falling, toward him. And he caught her, his arms encircling her, cradling her. Before long she was laughing, but crying as well, great big tears running down her face. He was crying too, tears making his eyes even brighter than they already are. She looked into his eyes, the two tomoe catching her eyes. 'Not yet, but when?' But she shoved the thought away, kissing him sweetly. And he kissed her, his passion mirroring her own. They drew away when the crowd dissolved into laughs and dog-whistles, making them both blush. But then a cry rang out, sounding shockingly like Kakashi. "Kiss her you fool!" And he did, his lips crushed her own but they were gentle, always gentle.

Sora kissed Kairi, Kakashi's words unneeded. And the crowd cheered, but he broke away again when someone cleared their throat. He looked over Kairi's shoulder and grinned at Ivy and Tsunade, Raziel missing for once. "I'm back." Ivy smiled but Tsunade did nothing, examining him with hard eyes. And he met her stare, her stare burning holes into his skull. But his gaze was stronger than hers, Itachi himself had complimented Sora for having a gaze even more intense than his own. Finally, Tsunade broke her stare, looking uneasy before she smiled. "Welcome back Sora, you were sorely missed." Sora started to respond when a burning pain along his right side and arm made him winch, his right hand making a hook as it stiffened.

Kairi stepped away from Sora, alarmed when he clutched at his right arm in pain. But Tsunade remained calm, one of the many things Kairi was jealous of, and gripped Sora's shoulder, looking into his eyes. "How much did that jutsu take out of you?" Sora just stared at her, his pupil growing larger and larger until there was barely a hint of crimson left. And then he keeled over, his eyes rolling up into his skull as his Sharingan faded. She started forward but an arm held her back, the owner of whom dragged her away. "He's fine. Just a little tired." Kairi looked back, Kakashi's eye fixed on Sora. Before she could question him, however, Tsunade had grabbed his arm and dragged him away, Sora still in her other hand. But she had, once again, forgotten that Kairi's hearing was better than even a Jōnin, so she heard every word. "What rank is the jutsu he used?" Tsunade's voice was hard, harder than Kairi had heard it. "Unclassified, he made it." Kakashi's voice was a stark contrast against Tsunade's, calm and bored.

Kakashi looked at Tsunade with a bored eye, his body still recovering from staring at Sora's match with his Sharingan. But he still had enough chakra to stare Tsunade down. He doubted he could stand a chance against her in a fight, but then he'd never thought whether he'd win. Thinking about killing the Hokage was against his very nature, his ANBO discipline still intact. "I know he made it Kakashi. No other shinobi is stupid enough to use that much chakra, Naruto does not count. What rank is it?" If Tsunade had seen Kakashi's face then she would have backed away, but she couldn't, his mask and forehead protector ensured that. "Classified above classification. My chidori is ranked as an S difficulty. Well, compared to that my Raikiri would be an E rank, it's impossible. It uses more chakra than even Naruto's Rasen Shuriken. I can't even imagine how much pain it causes to make, never mind use. It would kill me to even try. He can use my Raikiri twenty-three times a day and still be able to fight sunup till sunset. He can use his Shadowbolt once, and even that one time nearly kills him. He's lucky he didn't complete it, otherwise he'd have killed us all. The Kage included." Kakashi watched in fascination as Tsunade was flabbergast, the first time he'd seen that expression on her face.

But then he'd never wanted to see that expression, it made him doubt her, and that doubt made him uneasy. "How is it made?" At this he let out a small sigh of relief, rather glad that she'd returned to questions he didn't want to answer. "Well, and this is an informed guess, he uses two of his own chidori and forces them to meld, thus making the single serrated blade. He uses another four chidori to make the four spokes, and uses his lightning chakra to force the five pieces into a consecutive whole. When it's complete he lets it flare out of control, thus the single arch that shot toward Zaku, but forces it back when its wide and long enough to use. I can't begin to guess how he came up with this or how he can possibly do it but he does, and when he does everyone better run, cause then he's ready to kill. And kill he shall, the Shadowbolt separates into its five pieces when it pierces the intended target's flesh, ripping them apart before imploding in a cloud of lightning. Even standing within ten feet of the attack is the same as standing next to Naruto's Rasen Shuriken when it goes off, except this jutsu actually boils your blood before it tears you to pieces." Tsunade had paled more and more the more he spoke, he knew that she was having difficulty in grasping the concept. "It's a one hit kill?" Her tone sounded desperate, as if she wanted to find out if this jutsu actually had a weak spot. "No, but a single hit is enough. If the blade touches you it shuts off the nervous system for the duration of the stab, making the target unable to move or respond. And if that's not bad enough the five spears the blade splits into numbs the body enough to stop any movement, so where you can at least try to flee Naruto's Rasen Shuriken this jutsu stops even that. You'd be lucky if you're the main target, at least you die without pain then."

Kakashi looked at Tsunade, unsure of what to tell her. "Will he live? I don't know Tsunade, he's human but a human can't use that jutsu. He's human but his chakra is as foul as Kurama, he's human but he still lives, though his body is covered in more scars than ten people combined could have and live. If he dies I'd be surprised, but if he lives..." And in Tsunade's arms Sora did stir, he did raise his head. "Of course I'll live. My work is not done yet, and until it does I will never die." Sora raised his head enough for Kakashi to see his face, as pale as bone yet red marks over his face, over his eyes like his own eyes. His left eye was pitch black, gold mingling with his blue while his right was blue. "If I have to embrace my Darkness to live then so be it."

Sora stood up, shrugging Tsunade off as he did. Kairi was looking at him, he could feel her stare. He looked over his shoulder, her eyes locking with his. "Anti is feeding me. If he didn't I'd be long dead. And I'm sucking up his power like the leech I am." His tone was bitter, as if he loathed his own weakness. But when she opened her mouth to console him he just shook his head. "It's not important. Let's go, we're holding up the tournament." And they were, the crowd was stirring restlessly and the four Kage standing where Kairi had stood were staring.

Sora took Kairi's hand in his own, pulling her toward him, and jumped. He landed on the railing far above and set her down lightly, feeling Anti's power fade as his own body recuperated. 'Thank you...brother.' All response anti gave was a dark chuckle. But Sora knew Anti was feeling his gratitude, he was stirring within his heart. But he let it be, instead facing the four Kage, Tsunade joining them a second later. All of them were staring at him, staring at his eyes and the black marks marring his arms. But he met their stares, holding their eyes until they stirred in unease. "So this is the new Sharingan user. He bares the Uchiha crest and he has their eyes." The Kage who spoke was still a boy, Sora's age, but he held a power in his gaze that made Sora think that he was the true Kazekage. "And yet he has no hate within him, kindness unbridled instead. He is...good." The Kazekage spoke hesitantly, as if he wasn't sure what he wanted to say until he'd already spoken,

Sora looked toward Tsunade, true fear shining in his heart. "Are you insane?" He could taste his fear, odd as that was. But he knew why he was afraid. "I can't fight Ivy, we'd destroy this stadium just to get a blow in." At this Tsunade looked doubtful, but considerate. "Very well...we shall have your match last. Which means you have three matches to prepare yourself." She turned on her heel and walked away, four of the Kage close behind her. But the Kazekage, Gaara, hesitated. "I wish you luck." His piece said he walked away, not even glancing back as he left the large room. 'Oh, this is gonna hurt.' Sora shivered at the thought, already seeing Ivy laughing as she slaughtered him. 'This is gonna hurt so much.'

Sora watched in depressed silence as the first two contestants, one of which Gabriella, took the field. 'Poor guy.' And he was right, Gabriella just smacked the guy around before trapping him in a net of snakes. Botan declared her the winner and the crowd hesitated a second before cheering, roaring with enjoyment. Next it was two contestants he didn't know, both from the Leaf. Their match dragged on longer than most people would have liked but Sora enjoyed it, trying to recover as much energy as he could before the inevitable happened. A match he did enjoy, in a depressed kind of way, was Kairi's match against a Sand, wiping the floor with him in an elegant, yet deadly, dance. When she was declared the winner Sora cheered along with everyone else, proud of what Kairi had accomplished in a month...And then it was his match. 'The dread hour had come. She probably won't kill me, that much I know, but short of death she won't hold back. Oh this is so gonna hurt!'

Sora faced Ivy, sweat beading his face. 'At least she sent Raziel away.' Ivy had sent Raziel away, the great serpent hissing in protest but he'd slithered away, baring his fangs to the shinobi who stood in his way as he sulked. Swallowing Sora inched to the right, toward Ivy's lead arm, hoping to at least have that advantage over her. But she was too experienced, too familiar with his way of fighting. She inched to her right, mirroring Sora's step perfectly. "Keyblade?" She nodded and they both grinned, summoning their blades to them. Sora relaxed when he felt Last Hope in his hand, a hole he hadn't known about filling in his heart where Tenshi's presence had been.

Like all weapons that gained power over time, hoarding precious energy until it would next be used, so too had Last Hope gathered its power. So Sora wasn't surprised when a cloud of crimson streamed off Last Hope's blade, a similar, if smaller, cloud pouring off Ivy's.

When he was certain he'd gathered as much power as he possibly could under the circumstances Sora rushed forward, swooping low for an upper slash to Ivy's left shoulder. With a sound akin to a thunderclap Ivy's blade blocked Sora's, sparks dancing along the edges of their joined blades. A sweeping kick to his leg made Sora jump back, slashing at Ivy's arm as he went. His blade seemed to move through Ivy's arm as she dodged, her own sword reopening the wound on Sora's cheek. Sora swung again, this time clipping Ivy on the left shoulder and rushed forward, slamming his body into Ivy. Like he hoped she tried to angle her keyblade to stop his charge, and just as he'd planned his keyblade hooked around hers and went sliding to the side, Ivy gasping as his shoulder slammed into her sternum. If Ivy had been normal she'd have collapsed, and as it were she shook slightly, as if she was fighting the urge to pass out.

While she was distracted by her pain Sora swung, cutting her just above her belt. The cloth of her shirt flopped away, showing smooth, pale skin underneath, marred only by the jagged line of blood he'd carved into her skin. The pain must have anchored her, for Ivy stiffened and swung. With barely a whisper of sound Ivy drove her keyblade through Sora's shoulder, the pure white teeth dirty with blood. But Sora was already moving, he swung at Ivy and felt his keyblade sink into flesh, Ivy making a muttered outcry. But Sora was already thirty feet away, yanking her keyblade from his body with a groan. But Tenshi too was feeding him her power, so his shoulder was pain free in seconds, the muscle, bone and skin regenerating.

In the back of Sora's mind he was aware that when the crowd looked at the fight below they only saw a blur of movement and the occasional splatter of blood on the ground, a loud shriek announcing a blow blocked or deflected. He was also distinctly aware that each blow he and Ivy exchanged the ground below them split and cracked, a wind created from the speed at which they swung their blades and tremors raking the air from their blows. But this was in the back of his mind, and thus he ignored it, focusing on attacking Ivy with his full might.

Kairi watched as Ivy and Sora hacked at each other, keeping her face a blank mask all the while. She turned her eyes toward Kakashi, the older man staring at the fight with his Sharingan. "Impressed?" He didn't even spare her a glance, he just nodded his head and turned his head slightly, Ivy having driven into the wall below them. With a vicious stab Ivy struck out at Sora, who dodged the blow. Ivy's keyblade struck the building and Kairi bent her knees, the building shaking as if a mountain had crashed into it. "They will kill us all." With an amused smirk Kairi looked behind her, Tsunade standing there with wide eyes, a hand clenching the fabric of her robe. "No, they won't. Unlike you shinobi we protect people, we don't kill them. Besides, they're still playing around. Wait till they get serious, then you can start screaming and running around like an idiot."

A particularly heavy blow forced Sora back, a smile on his face. Ivy too was smiling, neither of them even trying. Holding his hand up Sora gathered his Light, almost like he would a chidori, and threw it, the small orb slamming into Ivy with the force of a wrecking ball. But she shrugged it off, just as Sora would, for he was still playing around.

Sora raised his keyblade, seeing the new hard glint in Ivy's eyes, and braced himself, her blow slamming into his keyblade. Even by his high standards, which included immortals and Keyblade Masters, Ivy's blow was powerful, the ground underneath Sora splitting open like a great wound in a massive beast's hide. He skid back before he stepped into the blow, not allowing himself to be moved any further. He pushed, his arms straining against the impossible task. But then Ivy's arm gave in, and she was pushed back, off her feet. Jumping up Sora turned his keyblade down, ready to impale her. Her hand lashed out and his keyblade slid past her cheek, and into the ground. A deafening boom resounded, a crater forming under the tip of Sora's keyblade. But the crater wasn't perfect, sharp jagged pieces of stone and earth reared upward, a maze of spikes that could impale that at the slightest mistake in their movement.

Sora jumped back, cutting his Uchiha shirt on a spike as he did. He activated his Sharingan, the only jutsu he wanted to use in their fight, and smiled, seeing where Ivy was going to go. He stepped back into a crevice the rocks made, watching Ivy charge past as he did. He stuck out his arm and she ran into Last Hope, raising her unknown keyblade before it cut into her chest. She turned and Sora ducked, the pillar of stone falling on him. With a mighty heave he pushed it off him, cutting his back and shoulders with razor sharp blades of stone. Pointing his keyblade toward Ivy he frowned, drawing upon Anti and Roxas's combined might. A shining red sphere formed at Last Hope's tip, looking very much like a Hollow's cero. When the sphere was strong enough Sora released it, the ball splitting down the middle and bathing the area in front of him with a flickering vermilion light.

Kairi cried out, screaming for Sora to stop. "The people! Stop Sora! Stop!" But he couldn't hear her, her voice drowned out by the great roar of the crowd. But she could see what would happen if Ivy dodged Sora's attack, what would happen if she did anything but accept it. So she thrust hand out toward Ivy and shot a tiny sphere of Light containing her hope, her memory. It reached Ivy and broke over the older woman's head, giving her the information Kairi wanted to give her. Ivy turned around, meeting Kairi's gaze before she smiled, a smile that spoke of acceptance. She closed her eyes and spread her arms wide, turning to face Sora's attack.

Kairi watched in horror as Ivy was consumed by Sora's attack, her slight figure nothing next to the vermilion wave of destruction. But then a slight disturbance in the wave caught Kairi's eye, a flash of black and silver amongst the red.

Ivy faced Sora's attack, willing to take the damage and save the innocents around her. 'My duty...to protect the innocent and destroy the corrupt.' She felt the power contained within Sora's attack, knowing it was enough to destroy the entire stadium many times over. But her heart refused to give up, drawing upon her Fey love and gentleness, drawing upon her daemon pride and anguish. And from this love and hate, anguish and gentle acceptance Susanoo formed, both arms bearing shields. He brought his arms over his head, all that was visible of him, and over Ivy, whom he sheltered above all else. But the shields were curved, forcing Sora's attack onto itself, its own power destroying it. Ivy thought for a second that her incomplete Susanoo might be enough, until, with a shout of defeat, Susanoo was driven back, Ivy pushed back with him. But her protective Fey mind mingled with her loyal daemon nature, giving Susanoo the strength he needed. With a shout unlike any before Susanoo formed completely, his armour the colour of silver and his eyes glowing blue. But that wasn't what made Ivy stare, it was the amount of love and loyalty he had in his eyes when he regarded her, pushing his arms forward with renewed determination.

This determination prevailed, Sora's attack breaking upon his massive shields, Ivy looking on in amazement. With a surprised touch she felt a wetness stream over her cheeks, not the stickiness of blood but the renewing smoothness of tears. She knew then that she would never again cry tears of blood, her change of heart, her protectiveness over the people around her altering her very being in such a way that her body no longer rebelled against her. The cloud of dust cleared, revealing a Sora that looked on at what he'd done in self-hate, self-loathing. "Ivy, I'm...I'm so sorry." Ivy strode forward Susanoo mirroring her, and slapped him, earning an astonished gasp. "Don't apologise, its ill becoming of one so strong, apologising for using his true power."

Sora opened his mouth to apologise again when he felt it: a certain chill in the air. Ivy stiffened and he suspected she too had felt it. "Immortal." Sora turned around, seeing Kairi too look toward a pillar of stone not far from them. Without another glance she jumped, her keyblade flashing in the sunlight. She landed beside him, regarding the same space even Ivy was looking now. "Mother, why have you come?" If Ivy seemed surprised at Sora's tone she didn't show it, even Kairi seemed perfectly normal. A swirling Corridor of Light opened in front of them, and through it strode one of the oldest immortals: Nyx.

Nyx regarded Sora with cold eyes, seeing the new fire in his eyes and the new strength in Kairi's, while Ivy herself had become exactly as she knew she would, sympathetic and caring. "Ahh, my children. The time has come, I fear." At this Sora stiffened, Ivy and Kairi staring at her with empty eyes."Chaos?" At this Nyx couldn't help but scowl, the hate that burned for her father driving her as little else could. "No, my sister." Nyx knew if Sora's jaw hadn't been firmly fixed to his face and his eyes not firmly planted in their sockets they would have fallen to the ground, and even with all these limitations Nyx could almost see Sora's eyes dropping out in surprise. "Did you not know I had a sister? Not a sister really, more a woman who I had been close to for millennia in my youth. But no more, she has sided with Chaos and has personally killed dozens of my children in the brief time she's been outside of Tartarus." Sora's eyebrows rose up to his fringe but she paid it no heed, merely giving him the explanation she knew she owed him. "The Tartarian spawn, as some call them, are my children, Cerberus their father. Back then he had the power to transform into a dog, but after tampering with a certain fiery haired goddess his power was stripped and he became that what he loved most, a three headed dog. Well, my Hell hounds might have come when Oranos called but their loyalty lie with me, and those I entrust my seal to. They guarded my sister's cell against all intruders, even rebus couldn't come near without being torn limb from limb. But some stupid mortal heeded her call and slew my children, releasing her in an attempt to gain her favour."

Nyx watched as Sora digested what he'd heard. 'He really is an anomaly, he can accept things that even mythology would call myth but he can't accept that Kairi's a real princess. Poor boy, when her time comes I wonder what he would do?' But she blinked, suddenly aware that Sora had been speaking while she'd stared at him. "Excuse me Did you say something?" He shot her a look of understanding before he repeated what he'd said. "Take us with you, we can help." Nyx shook her head but she secretly smiled, she's been hoping that he'd help her. "Very well." She raised her hand and opened a portal, not a Corridor, as a portal could carry its user across dimension, unlike a Corridor which could only traverse the plane the user was on. She waved them in and one by one they stepped through, Sora smiling in excitement, Ivy grinning in anticipation and Kairi gnawing at her lip in worry.

Sora stepped though, shivering in cold. He looked around himself, seeing the flames all around them. They seemed to be at the centre of the earth, a molten ball of metal lay to the side and various stalagmites and towering pillars of stone rise toward a nonexistent ceiling. And still he shivered in cold, seeing dozens of icy boulders strewn across the ground, what looked like boulders covered in black moss clustered around them. Nyx touched him on the shoulder and she uttered a single, tangled word he couldn't recall or even remember hearing. And all around them the moss covered boulders stirred, showing snarling faces and glowing black eyes, fur black as pitch and fangs like needles all around them. Behind him a hiss broke the awful silence, and upon turning he realised Nyx had brought Raziel with them, his head on her shoulder as she rubbed his bony snout. "There there, great Naga, they are my children." And they were, hundreds if not thousands of Hell hounds surrounded them, a few looking disfigured with what looked like bubbling tar dripping off their coats.

Sora followed Nyx, her eldest Hell hound son lumbering beside her. He was an excellent speciment, almost a third of his father's size but looking even more powerful, steel muscles writhing beneath his black fur and ivory teeth as thick as Sora's outstretched hand jutting from his gaping jaws in perfect, yet deadly, precision, his body well formed and his eyes keen as he surveyed Sora with interest.

Sora stopped, seeing a gnarled tree that looked horribly familiar not far from him, sure that it was the tree his imagination had come up with when he's tried activating the Sharingan. "No! No. It can't be!" His voice sounded weak, even to his own ears, and he instinctively clenched Kairi's hand even tighter, making sure she was safe. "I'm afraid so, this is Tartarus, the inner sanctum of Lilith's lair." Nyx's voice was strangely ragged when she spoke, and Sora could see why. Pure, unbridled hate shone in her eyes. She was obviously more excited than she'd let on.. But he dared not say anything, for to his dismay and horror the mutilated bodies of great beasts, Hell hounds and dragons and Griffins and all other creatures Sora knew guarded Tartarus against intruders lay all around them, some of the corpses so large they looked like mountains in the gloom. A few were still alive, their breathing laboured as they tried to keep their bodies out of Thanatos's hand, losing more often than winning. Adding even more to his rising nausea and anger he saw the familiar marks a keyblade made when cutting through flesh and bone, already having the inkling of an idea about who had helped Lilith escape.

Sora's answer came not long after this, when two thrones, built from what looked like bone glowed dully in the black realm, two figures sitting upon the ivory seats. One was unmistakably male, his throne smaller but just as brilliant as the other. The second throne had glittering diamonds larger than Sora's fists jutting from its surface, gold and other precious metals holding the jewels in place.

Nyx screamed, a sound that chilled Sora to the bone. For it contained a hate so old and twisted it killed him just as surely as Primal Darkness would, its foul influence making him snarl in rage. "How dare you! You killed my children! You released Lilith from the prison I made, you betrayed your master! How dare you Danny Phantom!" The male figure laughed, a sound that made the Sora's hair rise from his head, making him look like a puffed up lion ready to kill his rival. For the sound echoed strangely around them, remaining longer and louder than should be possible. Then Dan threw back his hood, a crown of frozen fire resting upon his brow, and rose to his feet. "Who am I! I am the king! And you shall bow to me, Nyx, daughter of Chaos and master of Sora!" Danny pointed at Nyx and for a second it seemed as if he was going to say something more, but his face contorted in pain and he cried out, his deep voice booming across the frozen wasteland. For he was older than Sora had last seen him, yet younger as well. His face was unlined but he had the body of a man at his peak, his hair hovering above his waist and writhing like snakes. But what power his voice had meant little when he was begging for release.

And with a wave of her hand the still veiled figure did just that, Dan's face smoothing before he rose to his feet once more, having fallen to his knees. "Eleven thousand years. I was locked within my cell for eleven thousand years Nyx. And while you slept I laboured. I laboured to escape my prison and have my revenge. But your Erebus was far too clever to have raw power break my bonds. No, a mortal had to willingly sacrifice what was most dear to them to release me. And the king did just that, he sacrificed his mortality to free me. Now I am free, and now you will pay for what you have wrought!" With a sound akin to cloth ripping Lilith rose to her feet and threw the veil from her face, showing a face beyond beauty, beyond perfection. A face that would render even the most beautiful woman jealous. But Nyx was just as perfect, for she was not just a woman, she was a mother and a sister, a companion and a guide. And thus she looked at Lilith not in envy but in hate.

Sora watched as Nyx raised her arms, her wings revealing themselves for the first time. He'd never seen her wings, not her real wings. And they were gorgeous, white feathers that seemed to have been dipped in boiling electrum, the tips glowing and the spine of each feather seeming to draw the light from the air. So Nyx's wings shone within a void in existence, nothing surrounding her wings except true nothingness, blackness that wasn't black, white that was dark. And with her wings came even more beauty, her appearance becoming even more perfect that was possible. She pointed at Lilith and uttered a single Word, a Word that had no meaning to Sora but that echoed in the confines of his mind with infinite importance. It was the name of all names, the name of existence itself. And it was now used as a weapon, seeming to tear the flesh from Lilith's bones, and yet Lilith had no bones, she didn't exist. She wasn't there, she never was, for the Word made it so. But then Nyx seemed to crumble in on herself, looking unsure for the first time. Then Lilith opened her own wings, black feathers surrounded by golden stars, each feather's spine glowing with white hot intensity. She herself mouthed the Word and Nyx was thrown back, her wings bloody before she recovered, her wings starting to beat the air.

Sora watched as Nyx and Lilith battles, their battle lost to him since he couldn't hear what they shouted. He also couldn't see what they did, only felt boiling drops of blood raining on his skin to scald him. Yet no matter how meaningless the battle was he couldn't tear his eyes away, his mind drinking in what he saw, even though he couldn't even see their movements. Dan seemed to be under the same trance, for he neither moved nor blinked from where he's taken a step forward, his foot frozen by the compulsion the battle cast.

Sora watched in disbelief as Nyx fell in front of him, feathers raining down around him, Lilith falling beside Dan. Then Sora understood what Lilith had meant, she was just as powerful as Nyx, and yet Nyx had the advantage still, for she had been there when the World had come into existence, had been one of the Law Givers to decide what the Laws of Life would be. She was, in every sense of the word, immortal. Yet Lilith seemed just as strong as Nyx, if a little slower, but she made up for that in her erratic movement, or at least what little movement Sora could understand.

Sora watched as Nyx closed with Lilith again, Nyx's Word echoing in his ear just as Lilith's echoed. And then his compulsion was broken, he could see what they did, he could move, he could fight. Danny himself had realised this, for he jumped and slashed at Nyx's wing with his black blade, drawing blood. But Nyx compensated by kicking him in the gut, breaking his spine and all his ribs. When he crashed to the ground Sora finally understood the concept of immortality, for Dan stood up again and fixed him in a stare a dead man could never have.

Sora pushed Kairi out of the way, Ivy jumping out of the way at the same time, Danny driving his keyblade through Sora's chest. Yet Nyx had declared him her son, giving him full immortality for the duration of the fight. So he stabbed Dan in the chest as well, slashing his keyblade to the side so it broke through Dan's ribs and arm, the damage regenerating not even a second later.

At last Sora understood the curse of immortality, as well as the blessing. He would recover from any wound, no matter how grave, but he would experience every gut wrenching stab of pain the wound would take in healing, effectively making him want to die with most wounds. Especially when Dan beheaded him, he experienced the excruciating pain of being in two places at once, the pain to his head burning and the damage to his body burning as well. Then his head would explode and re-grow, his heads once more attached to his shoulders.

In these conditions Sora fought, using every single thing he knew about causing pain to force Dan to submit. It was when he was just beginning to cast a genjutsu with his Sharingan when it happened, the final transformation. His body exploded in pleasure and he had the distinct satisfaction of feeling the last tomoe form in both eyes. Fixing Dan in his new, powerful, glare Sora cast a genjutsu, almost like Tsukuyomi, but unlike Tsukuyomi it happened in real time. He stabbed Danny again and again, feeling the satisfaction drain away when he healed and feeling it flare when he again started to bleed.

Sora lowered his hands, touching his two chidori to each other, forcing the two to bond. He then created another four chidori to wrap around the serrated edge and let his Shadowbolt go out of control, wresting it back when the blade was long enough. Dan smiled, seemingly curious and Sora obliged, he started to run. He ran faster than he's ever run before, his hate and rage for Danny giving him a speed he's never have the honour of using again. He drove his Shadowbolt home, stabbing it directly into Dan's heart, smiling in satisfaction when the five blades separated, each chidori exploding in a wave of lightning that caused him no harm. Like before Dan regenerated, though it took far longer than before, and fixed Sora in a frightening glare.

At this very second Lilith cried out in pain, Nyx descending toward Sora, Ivy, Kairi and Raziel. She wrapped them in her wings and kicked off, winging her way toward the gate. But both Lilith and Danny appeared before her, cutting off her escape route.

Nyx dropped to the ground, a sad smile on her lips. She connected her mind with Sora, Ivy and Kairi's and flooded their minds with what knowledge and power she could, almost certain that it would take decades for them to decipher the torrent of jumbled thoughts. 'Fare thee well my friends. I wish you good luck and fare well!' She opened a Portal around them, throwing them into the next dimension, before sealing the door to Lilith's prison, making it that only Sora, Kairi and Ivy could open the gates. Laughing in triumph Nyx opened her wings to their full extent, flooding her entire being with the power she'd held back. "We dance sister! We dance until eternity ends! And you dance with us brother! For I have sealed this realm against all, even my own consort and my own hand!"

FIN

**Review! Please?**

**It is done, but I'm already busy with Darkness is eternal so I expect I will be going through the pain of publishing again in a month or so, depending on how long I want Darkness is eternal will be.**


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